A TikTok star has died of rare liver cancer aged 27 after battling the disease for seven years.

Rachel Yaffe of Maryland passed away on October 11th. In one of her last tragic posts, she described how weak she felt after further radiation.

In the clip, she appears to be in a good mood, but reveals that her appetite has started to wane, as evidenced by her increasingly frail figure.

Ms Yaffe, who documented her cancer online, said she felt something was wrong in her late teens but attributed it to gluten intolerance.

But after seeing a doctor who recognized her concerns, she was referred to a specialist who discovered a 20cm tumor in her liver.

A biopsy confirmed fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare cancer that is unique because it primarily affects young, healthy people.

The disease is extremely rare, affecting only about 200 people worldwide each year.

The majority of cases affect teenagers and young adults, but cases have also been recorded in patients aged two to 74.

Because there are few telltale symptoms, most patients are diagnosed late and the disease has already spread from the liver to other parts of the body, where treatment becomes much more difficult.

The 5-year survival rate for stage I fibrolamellar carcinoma is 86%, but it drops to 44% as the cancer progresses further to stage 2.

After her stomach bloated, Ms Yaffe was diagnosed with a stage 4 fibrolamellar tumor and a few days later underwent surgery as soon as possible so the tumor could be removed.

Although she believed this would be the end of her cancer story, it was just the beginning, and three months later the cancer returned in her liver and lungs.

At that point, she said, she “began research and healing.”

Over the years, the former college lacrosse player said she tried everything to combat the disease, including traditional and alternative medications.

Many of Ms. Yaffe's previous Instagram posts feature shots of healthy meals as she strived to nourish her body with dishes like homemade chicken soup and “brown rice noodles with sautéed vegetables.”

Ms Yaffe opens up about how her diet changed during her cancer journey, telling viewers in a TikTok posted this July: “I've been a plant-based vegan diet for quite a long time.”

“After reviewing what I had been through with my new doctors and re-evaluating my blood work, we discovered that I was quite deficient in some of the nutrients I really needed, namely proteins and fats, so I actually turning more to the keto diet “carnivore diet, which is so new to me.”

She ends the post by showing the contents of her lunch plate, which includes a piece of avocado, two chicken and apple sausages, a piece of turkey bacon and an egg, “all cooked in suet.”

After living in Los Angeles for a while, Ms. Yaffe moved to New York in September 2023, where her sister lives.

But shortly after her big move, she suffered a serious health setback in February this year when her lungs bled.

In a TikTok post, Ms Yaffe explains that this was due to a tumor that was putting pressure on her heart and blocking airflow to her lungs, causing a bleed.

While she underwent multiple life-saving emergency procedures and was intubated for three days, her parents agreed that she should begin radiation and immunotherapy to shrink the tumor and stop the bleeding.

In an update Ms. Yaffe gave about her condition in June, she said she had gotten the scans back and there were some “really positive parts and some not-so-ideal parts” so she was considering her plan and next steps.

While most of the tumors in her body looked “stable,” there was one in her stomach that worried doctors, so she opted for proton therapy to treat it.

Proton therapy involves treating the tumor with beams of particles called protons.

But unlike X-rays, they don't travel any further (through healthy tissue) after they reach their target; Instead, they come to a standstill.

Ms Yaffe said she had found that proton therapy had fewer side effects and that it had not affected her normal life.

After this final round of proton therapy, Ms. Yaffe rested at her parents' home in Baltimore before returning to New York in late August.

However, in a TikTok posted from her Manhattan apartment in September, she appears weaker than ever and her frame is becoming increasingly frail.

This would be her last video.

Ms Yaffe remains optimistic, telling viewers: “I lost so much of my strength when I had radiation and I'm starting from day one.”

“It was so hard to get up and force myself to move, so I'm working on it.

“Luckily it’s easier to walk around here in the city.”

“I also work really hard to stick to a really strict diet to cure cancer, so that takes a lot of energy.”

“I have a pretty low appetite, so it's been a little difficult both physically and mentally, but I'm working on just focusing on the little things that bring me joy.”

“I also really, really value my mental health.”

On October 11, Ms. Yaffe's obituary was posted online with details of her funeral.

It reads: “She is survived by her devoted parents, Linda (née Bass) and Wayne Yaffe; cherished brother and sister Jordan Yaffe and Jessica Yaffe; dear grandmother, Sydney Bass; and loving dog, Layla.'

In a TikTok pinned to the top of her feed, Ms. Yaffe says her enduring message is for others to get checked out by doctors if they think something is wrong.

She says, discussing how she dealt with the symptoms long before she got help: “I feel like everyone made me feel like it was because of my anxiety and like I was crazy, and I know that a lot of people have stories like that.”

“It made me no longer trust my body and the signals it was sending me… because everyone was telling me I was wrong and they couldn't find anything.”

“If there's one thing I've learned, it's to trust your body. “Don't let anyone make you feel like you're wrong or crazy for feeling certain things.”