Liver cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors in China, and it is common that once a patient is diagnosed with liver cancer, it is advanced and has lost its chance of being cured, and the only thing that patients and their families have to do is to deeply blame themselves: why didn’t they get checked earlier?
So what are the items that can be done to detect liver cancer if you go to the hospital or have a medical checkup early, especially for those who are at high risk for liver cancer, such as those who have their own hepatitis B and C viruses (occult landmines) or those who have a family history of liver cancer in their family elders, which is a problem we have to face directly.
Step 1: Chief marker-fetoprotein
The first “landmine” to be mapped is alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which can be detected by a blood test and is the leading marker for primary liver cancer. The results of this study are summarized below.
These phenomena are related to the origin of methemoglobin, which is derived from developing hepatocytes or tumor primordial cells and is a marker of primitive cellular rejuvenation.
It is true that clinicians often consider high fetoprotein as an indicator of liver cancer, but it is more common to find a slight elevation of fetoprotein on physical examination, and the patient is very nervous to know about it and has repeatedly undergone abdominal ultrasound, CT, and other imaging tests, but the final result does not reveal liver cancer and is a false alarm. It is a recovery process after liver cell injury.
Afetoprotein is used to determine whether there is liver cancer, but it also depends on the height and persistence of the rise. For example, when a patient has a fetoprotein greater than 500 micrograms/liter for 4 weeks or a fetoprotein between 200 and 500 micrograms/liter for 8 weeks, it should be classified as highly suspicious and should not be ignored.
Step 2: Imaging
For those with high suspicion of hepatocellular carcinoma, the next step is to further review: improve abdominal ultrasound, upper abdominal CT, magnetic resonance imaging, and hepatic angiography to see if there is a morphologic “sprout” of hepatocellular carcinoma – an occupancy or mass in the liver, generally speaking. The primary hepatocellular carcinoma is bred from small masses, and these tests can detect masses of 2CM or more.
Step 3: New tumor marker – ferritin
In addition, if metastatic liver cancer is suspected, the minefield of CEA, CA19-9, CA72-4, etc., will be checked to follow the trail to see if these gastrointestinal and pancreatic tumor markers are elevated. The 9 items of the current physical examination program for tumors all include these tests, but the cost is a bit expensive.
A newly emerged tumor marker, ferritin, is also highly indicative of metastatic liver tumors, and its elevation, in addition to ruling out iron deficiency anemia, may indicate metastatic liver cancer – a foreign tumor molecule invading the liver. -Foreign tumor molecules invade the liver to destroy hepatocytes.
Final confirmation of diagnosis: puncture biopsy
The above indicators and tests are only circumstantial for liver cancer, and the final diagnosis of liver cancer depends on a liver puncture biopsy, which can be performed directly on a suspicious mass in the liver to look at it under a microscope and find cancer cells, and the truth will be revealed.