Things to know about liver cancer

Any part of your body that is not healthy causes a negative impact on our health. The liver is the second largest organ in the body, the main organ for the purification of toxins, and is also an important organ in the metabolism of food and fuel storage in various forms. Damaged liver will lead to a deteriorated liver function, in which the most dangerous and common is liver cancer.

Learn about liver cancer and prevention of liver cancer

Causes of liver cancer

Liver cancer can be caused by many causes, however, here are some basic causes:

Diseases

Some diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cirrhosis, diabetes, and obesity may also be risk factors for liver cancer. It can be seen that liver cells in the group of people with hepatitis, cirrhosis are often attacked by viruses and have very weak immunity. Damaged liver cells, fibrous tissue, scar replacement for healthy liver tissue cause liver function to decline, thereby increasing the likelihood of leading to very high cancer. Many studies have also shown that overweight people suffering from hepatitis are also at risk for liver cancer. As the body's mass index increases, the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma increases, this relationship remains true after taking into account gender and age factors.

Life style

Alcohol and tobacco are the faster pathways for liver cancer in people with hepatitis B and C. Alcohol causes the liver to not filter out toxins, from which liver cells are damaged and replaced. into scar tissue, causing chronic cirrhosis and leading to liver cancer. Especially people with hepatitis B and C have a higher risk of liver cancer if they consume a lot of alcohol.

High alcohol consumption increases the risk of liver cancer.

Sex and genetics

It is also possible that alcohol and tobacco habits are more likely for men to have liver cancer than women. In addition, the risk of liver cancer is also higher in people with a family history of liver cancer.

Some other causes

Some other causes can lead to liver cancer such as patients who ingest some foods containing aflatoxin, steroids or use a lot of water for arsenic in the long term. Aflatoxins are found in wheat, groundnuts, corn, and soybeans. Steroids are substances that increase body weight, reduce and turn fat into muscle, increase flexibility when exercising. Using this substance regularly and for a long time may increase the risk of liver cancer as well as some other cancers.

Symptoms, signs of liver cancer

In the early stages, it is difficult to recognize liver cancer, tumors often silently develop and when symptoms appear clearly, the tumor has also developed greatly, the patient is at a dangerous stage. The patient will die after 3-6 months after getting sick, so be wary if you see some suspicious signs in the person:

Early stage:

1. Minor digestive disorders: Eating poorly, eating less, bloating, indigestion, difficulty defecation.
2. Sometimes feel pain or lower right flank but not significant.
3. The body is tired, sometimes mild but self-relieved, the body loses weight from 1-2 kg per month.
4. Touching the right upper quadrant tumor or periodic health examination detected by ultrasound.
5. The above symptoms are often not clear and are easily ignored by patients.

The following stages

1. Hepatic pain: pain in the right lower quadrant, often in the middle and end, pain or stabbing. Usually over half of patients have liver pain, pain on the right shoulder and back.
2. Full on the news, appear early, often accompanied by symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders but little attention, until later, there were stomach and ascites.
3. Loss of appetite is the earliest symptom of the disease, but it is less noticeable and gradually develops nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea.
4. Other symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, fever and hemorrhage are embedded symptoms of the late period whose prognosis is very bad.
5. Hepatomegaly (upper abdominal tumor) over 90% of patients who come for examination are big, hard, rough or pressured liver.
6. Large spleen is often accompanied and is the result of cirrhosis.
7. Ascites is a symptom of the late period, abdominal water is often yellowish or reddish (bloody), diuretics are often ineffective.
8. Yellow skin is caused by biliary obstruction and due to progressive damage to cells, stellar vasculature, usually occurs in the late period of cirrhosis.

Treatment of liver cancer

Treatment for patients with liver cancer depends on the stage of the disease and the general health status of the affected person . For small cases of lumpiness, good liver function, the main treatment is surgical removal of the tumor. However, most people with liver cancer also have cirrhosis and cannot cut it. Other treatments such as alcohol injection, liver arterial chemistry . have very limited results. For patients of late stage, the main treatment is pain and symptomatic care. Here are the specifics of these treatments:

Picture with liver cancer.

Surgical treatment of liver cancer

This method is applicable to cases of primary liver cancer , if only one part of the liver has invasive cancer and the rest can still function well. The liver has the ability to self-compensate and recover very well. Even when 3/4 liver resection is performed, after only a few weeks the remaining liver will begin to grow rapidly, possibly returning to normal size. Some patients with small tumors may also be consulted for surgery to remove the entire liver and replace it with another liver of another person, also known as liver transplant surgery.

Removal method in place

Applicable to cases of tumors with a diameter less than 5cm . The two main methods used are absolute alcohol injection and skin acetic acid into the tumor. Alcohol and acid will destroy cancer cells. This group of techniques is usually carried out in the imaging department, using ultrasound to guide the needle directly into the tumor. In the case of recurrent tumors, treatment can continue as many times.

Kill by laser or heat wave high frequency

This is a method of using a laser or an electric generator to destroy cancerous cells. The patient was given local anesthesia, a needle was inserted through the skin into the center of the tumor, laser light or high-frequency waves were transmitted through the needle to the tumor, heating the cancer cells and destroying them.

Chemotherapy for liver cancer

Chemotherapy method of patients will be used some anti-cancer drugs to kill tumor cells, is applied to the case of no longer capable of surgery to remove tumors. Anticancer drugs are usually given intravenously or directly into the liver arteries that feed the tumor. Chemotherapy is usually done in each course of treatment for several days. After each chemotherapy is a few weeks' rest so your body can recover from the side effects of treatment. The amount of chemotherapy depends on the type of liver cancer and the level of response to the patient's treatment. However, chemotherapy may leave some unwanted side effects. Side effects are usually reduced resistance to infection, feeling of fatigue, mouth pain, hair loss . are temporary and can be controlled well by medical treatment

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy is a treatment that uses high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells and at least damage healthy cells. This method is rarely applied to hepatocellular carcinoma, but may be indicated for biliary carcinoma.

Liver cancer is a disease with a poor prognosis, average life time from detection about 6 months. Only about 1% of liver cancer patients are at risk of surviving 5 years.

Preventing liver cancer

Currently, not having a diet can cure liver cancer completely, but building a proper diet is never superfluous. Patients should supplement milk and yogurt, green vegetables, fruits, fish in their diet. In addition, patients should exercise regularly to strengthen the body's resistance. How to avoid the spread of hepatitis virus through eating, sex; Avoid drinking too much alcohol and beer carefully when using medications because most are metabolized through the liver.

The patient can use additional herbs that have been studied, proven to enhance liver function, protect the liver from harmful agents and enhance immunity.