system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is the mortality rate of liver cancer so high in spite of the liver having such a great regenerative potential?

Edit: Even if detected early, cancer has a high mortality rate, which I find especially unintuitive. My thought was that, if detected before metastases form, the tumor could be removed with most of the liver without loss of function of the organ, drastically minimizing surgical risks (as comparison: lung cancer has to be carefully removed without damaging the lung, while the liver could be operated out almost completely with the tumor if necessary).
gpt
The liver produces a version of a protein called Methionine adenosyl transferase (MAT) different from all other tissues which has a higher capacity for synthesis of a molecule called S- adenosylmethionine (SAMe). SAMe is the precursor for a number of other molecules involved in growth and repair hence why the liver has such a high regenerative capacity. In most liver cancers the Liver specific protein (MAT1) is switched to the ubiquitous MAT2 protein hence it's ability to regenerate is impaired. Interestingly this switch is also induced directly by a protein in hepatitis B explaining why patients with hepB tend to develop cirrhosis and then liver cancer.