Liver Cancer: Risk factors, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

Liver Cancer

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Liver Cancer

Overview of Liver cancer

Liver cancer is the cancer of the liver, where the cells of the liver turn out abnormal and multiply erratically. If the cancer begins in the cells of the liver itself, then it is termed as primary liver cancer.

Following are some of the types of primary liver cancer.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: This is the cancer of the hepatocyte. Hepatocyte is the main functional cell of the liver.

Cholangiocarcinomas: This is the cancer of the bile ducts.

Adenocarcinomas: This is the cancer of some glands present within the liver.

Sarcomas and angiosarcomas: This is the cancer of the connective tissue present within the liver.

Hemangioendotheliomas: This is the cancer of the blood vessels present within the liver.

The cancer affecting the liver is usually metastatic cancer or the secondary liver cancer. Here the tumors from different parts of the body metastasize to the liver. Colon cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer are some of the common cancers that spread to the liver.

The prognosis of primary liver cancer is poor since diagnosis is difficult in the initial stages. Management is mostly, symptomatic to make the patient feel comfortable.

Occurance of liver cancer in different groups

Hepatocellular carcinoma is responsible for 85–90% cases of primary liver cancer. More than 560,000 people develop liver cancer each year globally and almost equal number of peoples looses their life.¹ Males are higher risk when compared to females and the average ratio lies between 2:1 and 4:1. This is because men are more prone to infections of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. Along with this, if there are in the habit of consuming alcohol and smoking, they are at very high-risk. Prevalence rates of liver cancer differ within the population of the same region. This may be due to interethnic variability and exposing to risk factors like hepatitis C virus.^2,3

Signs and Symptoms of liver cancer

Signs and symptoms of liver cancer

Liver cancer does not show any signs and symptoms until the disease is in the advanced stage. Early detection of liver cancer is very rare. When the person develops symptoms, it may include

Risk factors for liver cancer

Diagnosis of liver cancer

Liver cancer is diagnosed based on the symptoms and the risk factors. Once suspected, a thorough physical examination is conducted and diagnostic tests include the following.

Treatment of liver cancer

The following methods are considered for treating liver cancer.

Surgery
Cryosurgery
Radio frequency Ablation
Ethanol Injections
Chemotherapy
Hepatic Artery Chemoembolization
Radiation Therapy

Prevention of liver cancer

The following ways can be opted to prevent liver cancer.

Prevention from hepatitis B infection by being vaccinated

Prevention from hepatitis C infection through:

Gaining knowledge as to how the disease is transmitted
Using sterilized needles for injections
Taking care in handling blood products

Avoid alcohol

Avoid medications that cause liver damage

Avoid exposure to environmental toxins

Written by: Healthplus24 team
Date last updated: July 19, 2011

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