Primary liver cancer is not the same as cancers that have started somewhere else in the body and have then spread to the liver. These are called liver metastases. Cancer that starts in other places, such as the colon, breast, or lung, and then spreads to the liver is called secondary liver cancer. Almost all other cancers, if they spread, can spread to the liver. Secondary liver cancer is more common in the United States than primary liver cancer. Cancer that has spread to the liver is treated like the original cancer. For instance, lung cancer that has metastasized to the liver is treated like lung cancer.