Europe faces rising liver cancer epidemic without urgent prevention and early detection measures

Liver cancer is among the fastest-growing causes of cancer death in Europe, with mortality expected to rise sharply over the next decade, recent research has shown.¹ In response to this escalating crisis, United European Gastroenterology (UEG) and the German Society for Gastroenterology, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS) have launched a joint statement on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prevention and screening, unveiled today at UEG Week 2025 in Berlin.²

The liver cancer burden in Europe has increased significantly over the past three decades, with age-standardised incidence and mortality rates rising steadily between 1990 and 2021.¹ It claimed more than 50,000 lives in the EU in 2022, with higher mortality in males than females.³ Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, has driven much of this increase.⁴

Professor Patrizia Burra, Chair of the UEG Public Affairs Group, commented, “A unified, evidence-based strategy is essential to halting the rising toll of liver cancer in Europe. Addressing this urgent public health challenge requires a twofold approach, focusing on both prevention and early detection.”

Preventing HCC through nutrition and lifestyle is critical. Metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), driven by obesity, type 2 diabetes, and sedentary lifestyles, is a leading cause of HCC, while alcohol misuse and viral hepatitis B and C continue to fuel the burden despite available vaccines and treatments.^5-7 Early diagnosis, testing and timely therapy are essential to reducing risk.²

“Prevention also begins with adequate nutrition,” added Professor Burra. “A Mediterranean-style diet, for example, reduces MASLD risk, whereas high consumption of ultra-processed foods increases liver cancer risk. But prevention must go beyond individual choices, and public health measures are essential, including improved food labelling, limits on marketing unhealthy foods to children, early nutrition education and stronger investment in both public health and physician training.”

While prevention tackles the root causes of liver disease, early detection is equally crucial, as timely diagnosis can dramatically improve outcomes.² Early-stage HCC is often asymptomatic but curable if detected in time, yet most cases are diagnosed too late due to underdiagnosis of liver disease and unequal access to imaging.²

UEG and DGVS support targeted, risk-stratified surveillance, focusing monitoring on patients at highest risk while reducing unnecessary tests for low-risk individuals. For very high-risk groups, advanced biochemical tests, imaging and ideally genetic testing can improve early detection, enabling curative treatment and better long-term outcomes.²

Evidence across Europe shows that this approach increases early detection rates, improves survival and is cost-effective for healthcare systems.⁸

“Catching liver cancer early saves lives,” noted Professor Birgit Terjung, DGVS Board Member. “Risk-based surveillance focuses resources on those most likely to develop HCC, improving outcomes while avoiding unnecessary tests for low-risk patients.”

Building on prevention and early detection, the joint UEG and DGVS statement calls on policymakers to take immediate action to change the trajectory of liver cancer across Europe by:

• Recognising liver cancer as a potentially preventable and increasingly prevalent public health priority.
• Implementing and funding structured HCC surveillance programmes guided by risk thresholds.
• Supporting public health initiatives aimed at reducing obesity, alcohol misuse and hepatitis transmission.
• Expanding physician training in nutrition and hepatology.
• Ensuring equitable access to screening tools, including radiological imaging, in high-risk cohorts.
• Taxing obesogenic foods and reducing the tax burden on healthy foods (sugar/fat tax).
• Promoting EU-wide nutrition labelling, such as Front-of-Pack Labelling systems like Nutri-Score.

Both societies concluded with a clear message that Europe cannot afford to ignore the ticking time bomb of liver cancer. The evidence, tools, and strategies are already available – what is now required is the political will to act.

“Success depends on coordinated action at every level,” added Professor Terjung. “From prevention and early detection to equitable access to care, governments, healthcare providers and the public all have a role to play if we are to turn the tide on liver cancer.”

Access the full statement here