Liver cancer: preventable!

Radiation therapy for a cancer patient at HCMC Oncology Hospital (Photo: L.TH.H)

According to doctor (Doctor) Doan Huu Nam - head of general planning department, Hospital (BV) Oncology HCMC - liver cancer is the most common, second and second most common disease in Ho Chi Minh City. The cause of liver cancer has so far been determined to be related to viruses and some other factors.

80% of cirrhosis turns into liver cancer

According to Dr. Pham Hung Cuong - Deputy Head of Surgery 2, Oncology Hospital, when infected with acute hepatitis B virus (HBV), the patient (patient) is manifested with body aches, muscle pain, mild fever like symptoms flu; or anorexia, nausea, constipation, diarrhea.

'The culprit' causes illness

The most common 'attachment' factor to liver cancer is alcoholic cirrhosis (common in European countries) and cirrhosis of HBV or HCV. In Vietnam, HBV factors are more common than HCV.

According to statistics, the rate of Vietnamese people infected with HBV is currently 18-24%. Vietnam is classified as a country with high rates of HBV infection in the world. The worry is that HBV is 100 times more infectious than the HIV virus.

Dr. Pham Hung Cuong - Deputy Head of Surgery 2, Oncology Hospital - said his research and Doan Huu Nam have identified up to 83% of patients with liver cancer who have ever been infected with HBV.

This symptom only manifests itself for about a week and then disappears. Because of that, many people do not know they have HBV. When infected with severe HBV, the patient exhibits jaundice, yellow urine, slightly fecal stools, enlarged liver, and jaundice.

However, according to Dr. Pham Hung Cuong, not everyone infected with HBV becomes ill. This depends on each person's ability to protect themselves. There are many people who live with HBV all their lives but have no hepatitis. Of those infected with HBV, about 10-15% will progress to chronic hepatitis.

In people with chronic hepatitis, 25% become cirrhosis; In people with cirrhosis, 80% of cases will develop into liver cancer. Progress from chronic hepatitis to cirrhosis and liver cancer about 10-20 years. Therefore, people with liver cancer are often at 30-40 years old.

Early detection by ultrasound and blood test

According to the doctors, when suffering from liver cancer, patients have common symptoms such as severe abdominal, right abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, sometimes abdominal distention (dyspepsia), sometimes signing, even BN Can feel the bump in the abdomen.

However, when these symptoms appear, the disease is already in a late stage. Every year, TP Cancer Hospital receives about 600-800 cases of liver cancer. Of which 98% of patients who came to BV at the late stage could not have surgery. For cases of liver cancer detected early when the tumor is less than 3cm, the ability to cure completely is very high. There are many cases of living up to 20 years without relapse.

For treatment, liver cancer is a disease that progresses very quickly. A patient has been diagnosed with liver cancer since he was diagnosed with liver cancer. If not, he can only live for no more than six months. Until now, surgery is still the best method to treat liver cancer at an early stage.

Doan Huu Nam said: although liver cancer is a difficult disease to treat at a late stage, fortunately it can be detected at an early stage by screening on people at high risk of liver cancer. In Vietnam, people at high risk are those who have been infected with HBV in the past. Therefore, people who are infected with HBV should have an abdominal ultrasound and a AFP-specific blood test every six months. If you do not know if you are infected with HBV, you should have a medical examination and blood test to determine.

HBV vaccination prevents liver cancer

Image of right liver cancer
(Photo: PHC)

Associate Professor Nguyen Chan Hung - Director of Cancer Hospital - said that he had effective HBV vaccination. Early vaccination against HBV is to prevent liver cancer in the future. For this benefit, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended and the Ministry of Health has also included HBV vaccination into an expanded immunization program for children under one year of age. This is a very feasible preventive measure, the vaccination price is also cheaper than many other vaccines. Particularly, hepatitis C virus (HCV) has not been vaccinated so far.

Dr. Doan Huu Nam noted that there are children born with HBV infection from their mothers. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of HBV is very high: 44%. Many studies confirm that people who are infected with HBV since childhood are 100% later to become chronically infected with HBV. Therefore, it is recommended to vaccinate HBV for children at birth. In addition to vaccinating children after birth, people also use immunosuppressants to protect a child without HBV infection.

Doctors also recommend that after vaccination with HBV vaccine should be tested to see if the dose is effective. In principle, repeat once every five years. In addition to those who have HBV hepatitis should limit alcohol consumption, because alcohol not only causes cirrhosis but also facilitates HBV to develop rapidly in the blood and reduce the tolerance of Hepatocytes in front of virus attack.

LE THANH HA