Primary liver cancer refers to cancer of hepatocytes or intrahepatic bile duct cells, which is one of the most common malignant tumors in China and its mortality rate ranks the 3rd among malignant tumors of digestive system, after stomach cancer and esophageal cancer. The dietary arrangement during the treatment and recovery of liver cancer is crucial to the prognosis.
The etiology and pathogenesis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma have not been fully determined, and may be related to the combined effect of various factors.
① viral hepatitis: about 1/3 of primary liver cancer patients have a history of chronic hepatitis, and epidemiological surveys have found that the HBsA positivity rate of people in high incidence areas of liver cancer is higher than that in low incidence areas, while the positivity rate of serum HbsA and other hepatitis virus markers in liver cancer patients can reach 90%, which is significantly higher than that of healthy people, suggesting that hepatitis virus is associated with high incidence of liver cancer
② cirrhosis: primary liver cancer combined with cirrhosis accounts for 50% to 90%, and in Europe and the United States, liver cancer often occurs on the basis of alcoholic cirrhosis.
③ aflatoxin: moldy corn and moldy peanuts contaminated by Aspergillus flavus can cause liver cancer because aflatoxin B1, a metabolite of aflatoxin, has a strong carcinogenic effect.
④ Drinking water pollution: in Qidong, a region with a high incidence of liver cancer, there is a significant difference in liver cancer mortality between residents who drink pond water and those who drink well water, and blue-green algae growing in ponds can contaminate water sources and are related to liver cancer.
⑤ Chemical carcinogens: chemicals that can cause liver cancer are mainly N-nitroso compounds, such as nitrosamines and nitrosamides. In addition, pesticides, safrole, etc. can also induce liver cancer.
What are the treatment means of liver cancer?
Individualized and comprehensive treatment according to different stages of liver cancer is the key to improve the therapeutic effect; treatment methods include surgery, hepatic artery ligation, hepatic artery chemoembolization, radiofrequency, freezing, laser, microwave, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, etc. Biological therapy and traditional Chinese medicine are also used in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
What to pay attention to in diet in the early stage after liver cancer surgery
After hepatocellular carcinoma surgery, it takes a period of time for liver function to recover, and all the food we consume needs to be metabolized by liver. Because these “high-quality” supplements are not easily decomposed by the liver, too much of them will increase the burden on the liver, which is not conducive to the recovery of the disease. Therefore, within 1 week after surgery, a varied, easily digestible, low-fat, moderate protein, high vitamin diet is appropriate, and follow the dietary principle of eating less and more meals. It is advisable to consume more foods with liver-protective effect, such as snapper, ark, oyster, shiitake mushroom and mushroom.
If the patient has poor coagulation function and bleeding tendency after surgery, it is advisable to consume more foods with hematopoietic and hemostatic effects such as: shellfish, orange, oyster, jellyfish, scallop, umeboshi, capers, etc. in the diet. At the same time, attention should be paid to vitamin supplementation, and the diet should include foods containing vitamin K and vitamin C, such as eating more fresh vegetables and fruits and drinking vitamin C rich juice drinks. At the same time, attention should also be paid to avoid irritating, hard, spicy, fried foods and foods with a lot of vegetable fiber, so as not to cause rupture and bleeding of esophageal or fundic veins in patients with liver cirrhosis.
If there is ascites after hepatocellular carcinoma surgery, the diet should strictly limit sodium intake and give low salt or salt-free diet, and it is appropriate to eat foods such as adzuki beans, quail eggs, seaweed, green crab and black fish.
Recipes for early postoperative period of liver cancer
Breakfast: milk (250g milk, 5g sugar), boiled egg (50g egg), 50g bread.
Extra meal: 1 small bowl of lotus root powder (lotus root powder 30g), 2 cookies (cookies 30g).
Lunch: 1 bowl of rice (rice 100g), minced pork and tofu (lean meat 50g, tofu 150g), stir-fried asparagus with veggies (asparagus 100g)
Extra meal: 1 apple (200g of apple)
Dinner: sliced noodles or noodles (100g flour), scrambled eggs with tomatoes and cucumbers (100g tomatoes, 100g cucumbers, 3g fungus, 50g eggs)
Additional meal: milk (250g of fresh milk, 10g of sugar) 20g of oil for cooking and 8g of salt for the whole day
What to eat during the recovery period after hepatocellular carcinoma resection
After a period of recuperation, the patient’s condition gradually improves and the amount of food increases, so the patient enters into the post-operative recovery period, when timely adjustment of diet is especially important. Because liver cancer patients consume more after liver resection, they must ensure sufficient nutrition to improve their nutritional status. The simplest way to measure the nutritional status of patients is whether they can maintain their body weight. And the best way to maintain the normal weight is to maintain a balanced diet.
It is recommended that a high-protein, high-vitamin, low-fat diet be adopted during the post-operative recovery period, with a certain amount of staple foods such as corn, wheat flour, millet, sweet potatoes, etc. The food should be extremely fine and soft, easy to swallow and easy to digest and absorb. High protein foods such as lean meat, eggs, milk, beans, etc. Vitamins A, C, E and K all have certain auxiliary anti-tumor effects. Vitamin C mainly exists in fresh vegetables and fruits, such as tomato, rape, lettuce, cauliflower, kiwi, orange, strawberry, pomegranate, etc.; carotene can be converted into vitamin A after entering the body, so patients should consume more animal liver, carrot, cabbage, fig, date, etc. In many patients, bile secretion and excretion are impaired after liver cancer surgery, thus making the digestion and absorption of fat difficult. If the fat content in food is too high, it will produce malabsorption, while low-fat diet can avoid this situation, and the general fat intake should be controlled at 40-50g per day.
What to eat during radiotherapy of liver cancer
Radiotherapy for liver cancer patients will cause many side effects, especially gastrointestinal symptoms and decreased appetite. Diet should be based on small amount and multiple meals, and choose foods with high calorie, high protein, high fiber and easy to digest according to their preferences. High protein foods include eggs, dairy products, lean meat, fish and tofu. Avoid sweet, spicy, pickled, fried, and high-fat foods. Avoid eating two hours before chemotherapy. Drink more plain water to relieve stomach discomfort. Drink at least 2000mL of water daily, and drink more green tea, oolong tea and honey water. If the intake of food is reduced for more than 5-7 days during chemotherapy, you can find a nutritionist to choose a suitable enteral nutrition preparation to improve the nutritional deficiency.
How to eat for leukopenia during chemotherapy
To effectively prevent this phenomenon, patients should supplement high-quality protein diet, such as milk, lean meat, beans and pig’s feet, etc. during chemotherapy. You can also add animal bone marrow in moderation, such as bone marrow stew from cattle, sheep and pigs or diet made from chicken blood, duck blood and pig blood. Dates contain a variety of anti-cancer ingredients such as hawthorne acid, and also have a therapeutic effect on chemotherapy-induced leukocyte reduction and thrombocytopenia. In addition to rice, wheat, millet and soybeans, chicken, sheep and beef are qi-supplementing foods that can be consumed by tumor patients with physical deficiency. A variety of edible mushrooms such as wood ear, monkey head mushroom, shiitake mushroom and enoki mushroom have certain anti-cancer effects, especially shiitake mushroom has the highest nutritional value and contains 7 kinds of essential amino acids and trace elements such as calcium, copper, iron and manganese, and also contains a variety of sugars and enzymes that can improve and enhance human immunity.