1.Symptoms of early liver cancer are not obvious
There are various methods circulating on the Internet to confirm liver cancer diagnosis by only one or two symptoms, which are basically unreliable, because the early symptoms of liver cancer are really not obvious and very atypical.
Why? It starts from the characteristics of internal organs. Many internal organs in human have powerful functions, and just a part of them is enough. For example, as long as 1/4 of the kidneys are working properly, they can keep the body running. That’s what makes kidney donation possible.
The same is true of the liver. A healthy liver, again, only needs about 1/4 to keep the body functioning properly. In the early stages of liver cancer, liver function is often adequate, so it is likely that no significant abnormalities will be perceived.
In many patients, advanced liver cancer is not discovered until the tumor is so large that it holds up the stomach, but even at that point, the patient’s liver function may be normal.
In short, to determine whether there is liver cancer, it depends on the usual physical examination and further examination.
2.Liver cancer prefers 5 types of people
People who are favored by liver cancer have the following 5 characteristics
(1) Have had hepatitis B
Liver cancer patients infected with hepatitis C virus are more common in western countries. In China, about 90% of liver cancer patients have been infected with hepatitis B virus. (Note that this statement does not mean that if you have hepatitis B, you have a 90% chance of becoming liver cancer.)
Therefore, anyone who has been infected with the hepatitis B or C virus is advised to have regular medical checkups and pay more attention to the condition of their liver.
(2) Having cirrhosis of the liver
The next step of cirrhosis is often liver cancer, especially for patients who have been detected with cirrhosis.
(3) Having liver cancer in your family
Liver cancer is not a “genetic disease”. However, there is a “family aggregation” of liver cancer. The most common example is that a mother who has hepatitis B passes the hepatitis B virus to her child when she gives birth to her child. But don’t worry too much, even if the mother is a carrier of hepatitis B virus, as long as the child is given hepatitis B immunoglobulin and hepatitis B vaccine in time, it can be well controlled.
(4) Over 40 years old
The high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma is after the age of 40, for men over 40 and women over 50 respectively, with the incidence rate of men being higher than that of women.
(5) Love of alcohol
As many people know, people who drink for a long time are prone to “alcoholic liver”, and alcoholic liver is not something to be messed with.
Early stage liver cancer can be asymptomatic, but once typical clinical manifestations appear, it is often the middle and late stage of the disease. The first symptom is pain in the liver area, followed by poor appetite, weakness, nausea and vomiting, abdominal distension, emaciation, diarrhea, right shoulder pain, etc. Liver pain, weakness, poor appetite and wasting are the most characteristic clinical symptoms. Some patients also show some complications of liver cirrhosis, such as black stool, vomiting blood, jaundice, etc.
Endocrine or metabolic syndrome caused by metabolic abnormalities of liver cancer itself or various effects of cancer tissues on the body is called associated cancer syndrome, which sometimes may precede the symptoms of liver cancer itself and should be treated as early as possible.
Large liver size and epigastric mass are characteristic signs of middle and late stage liver cancer. Those with advanced liver cancer or history of cirrhosis may have jaundice, ascites, splenomegaly, edema of lower limbs, liver palm, spider nevus and varices of abdominal wall at the same time.