Brief Answer: can determine with scan Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic It is understandable to be concerned especially since you have a friend with liver disease, The appearance of fat on the liver is very different from the appearance of cancer. The CT, which is a very good imaging test, would have been able to differentiate between the appearance of fat and the cancer. When the radiologist and doctor would have seen the ct scan they would have been able to detect whether any changes were due to fat or cancer or anything else.There are criteria that are used to identify abnormalities seen. Fatty liver is very common, it can be alcoholic fatty liver and non alcoholic fatty liver disease. Non alcoholic fatty liver is becoming more common. It occurs in persons who are overweight, history of diabetes, high cholesterol, inactivity, high intake of carbohydrates (these are stored in the body as fat). It can go on to liver failure but if lifestyle changes are made then the fatty liver may improve and you can prevent it from going to further liver failure. I hope this reassures you , please feel free to ask any other questions

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