BackgroundLiver failure is severe hepatic cellular damage caused by multiple factors that leads to clinical manifestations. Hepatic infiltration by malignancy is rarely reported as a cause of liver failure.Case presentationA 51-year-old male patient was admitted to the Wuhan Union Hospital complaining of bloating and jaundice. He had been diagnosed with polymyositis ten prior and was taking oral glucocorticoids. Physical examination revealed seroperitoneum and icteric sclera; laboratory tests revealed liver dysfunction, a coagulopathy, and negative results for the common causes of liver failure. Moreover, an ascitic tap and bone marrow aspirate and trephine confirmed a metastatic, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. These findings indicate that malignant infiltration is the most likely cause of liver failure. Regrettably, the patient refused complete liver and lymph node biopsies and was discharged on day 31.ConclusionClinicians should consider the possibility of malignant infiltration when approaching a case of liver failure with prodromal symptoms or imaging abnormalities, especially in patients with autoimmune diseases, such as polymyositis.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-023-08274-0.