Liver cancer: signs of the disease and everything you need to know about it

The liver in our body participates in many processes and plays an important role. This type of oncology ranks 7th among tumors according to the frequency of appearance and the 3rd place in mortality. There are two forms of the disease:

• Primary (occurs directly from the liver cells).
• Secondary (occurs due to the spread of metastases from another primary lesion). According to the frequency of appearance, this form occurs more often than the first by 20%.

In this article, we will consider this disease in detail - liver cancer, - its signs, causes and treatment.

What can lead to liver cancer?

1. Viral hepatitis B.
2. An excess of iron compounds in the body, as well as syphilis, parasitic liver damage, cholelithiasis.
3. Cirrhosis leads to cancer in 60-90% of cases.
4. The presence of aflotoxins.
5. The problem with the metabolism, in particular a disease like diabetes.
6. Alcohol addiction, smoking, contact with carcinogens.
7. Anabolic steroid.
8. Contraceptive preparations.

How to recognize the disease?

Liver cancer symptoms has the following:

• Lethargy, fatigue;
• Jaundice (yellowish skin tone and eye protein);
• Sensation of swelling in the liver (or abdominal enlargement);
• Swelling of the legs and lower back;
• Bleeding from the nose;
• Pain in the lower back, upper abdomen and right upper quadrant;
• nausea, vomiting;
• Elevated temperature;
• Intestinal disorders, flatulence, diarrhea;
• weight loss;
• Ascites (late stages).

The presence of these symptoms may indicate that liver cancer is possible. Symptoms in the early stages may resemble the usual malaise, but if for several months you have lowered or completely lacks appetite, pain in the abdomen, and you are rapidly losing weight, then you should see a doctor.

How can I diagnose cancer?

Diagnosis of liver cancer is a complex process. It includes the following procedures: ultrasound, MRI, CT, angiography, laparoscopy, biopsy, blood test.

Stages of liver cancer

There are four stages of the disease:

• I is a single tumor in the liver that does not affect the blood vessels.
• II - the presence of several tumors or affected blood vessels.
• III - is divided into subspecies. Subspecies A - several tumors, more than five centimeters in size, affecting parts of the vein, B - the tumor passed to the external part of the liver and other organs except the gallbladder, C - metastases in the region of the spine and on the ribs.
• IV stage of the disease - cancerous cells spread throughout the body.

Treatment of liver cancer

The most effective method of getting rid of such a disease as liver cancer, the signs of which we examined earlier, is surgical. But it is used if there is a small tumor and it is isolated. This can be determined only when the abdominal cavity is opened. But even after the operation the patient will be able to live only from three to five years. In the late stages of the disease, only symptomatic treatment is used. Chemotherapy in this case is ineffective. People with a diagnosis of "liver cancer" should strictly monitor the course of the disease. A feature of the oncology of this body is too active development. With the diagnosis of "liver cancer", life expectancy will depend on the stage of the disease.