A comparison between primary and secondary liver cancer.

Two groups of patients have been compared, one with primary liver cancer, the other with liver secondaries. The groups did not demonstrate major differences in age, sex, ethnic background or treatment methods. Although patients with secondaries showed some survival advantage during the first 6-12 months, any difference had disappeared by 24 months. Patients with potentially 'curable' lesions having hepatic resection fared significantly better than all other patients, whether their tumours were primary or secondary in the liver. For practical purposes, the two groups can be considered as having problems of comparable biological significance.