The National Cancer Society here will be holding public forums
in the heartlands, focusing on how fatty liver can lead to cancer.
--PHOTO: GLAXO WELLCOME

DOCTORS here are raising the alert that as more people suffer from metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity, this could become the next leading cause of liver cancer.

An increasingly affluent lifestyle will up the number of people with fatty liver condition, raising the risk of liver cancer, said Dr Chow Wan Cheng, head of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Singapore General Hospital.

Fatty liver occurs when fat is deposited in the liver cells, and this can cause inflammation and scarring of the liver.

Currently, up to 80 per cent of liver cancer here is caused by a hepatitis viral infection, but the scales will tip the other way as more of the population gets vaccinated against hepatitis.

Excessive alcohol intake is another cause of liver damage and cancer.

As part of the liver cancer awareness month in September, the National Cancer Centre here will be holding public forums in the heartlands, focusing on how fatty liver can lead to cancer.

Liver cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world.