Cirrhosis is the necrosis of liver cells and fibrosis of the liver caused by one or more causes of long-term and repeated damage to the liver.
The occurrence of liver cancer is mainly related to multiple factors such as chronic liver disease (mainly hepatitis B and C viruses), aflatoxin, drinking water contamination and long-term alcoholism, and hepatic schistosomiasis.
Hepatitis has a three-step development: hepatitis – cirrhosis – liver cancer, mainly because many patients in the early stages of hepatitis, do not pay attention to, do not treat, holding “transaminases, jaundice normal hepatitis patients do not need treatment”, “large triplets need treatment, small triplets or table anti positive do not need to check and treatment “This can lead to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, resulting in irreparable tragedy.
Therefore, no matter which type of hepatitis you have, it is important to carry out correct and active treatment at the first time of discovering the disease. Cirrhosis is relatively common in China, most of which are post-hepatitis cirrhosis, and a few are alcoholic cirrhosis and schistosomiasis cirrhosis.
The early stage of cirrhosis can be reversed or no longer progress after active prevention and treatment, but the late stage will seriously affect the quality of life of patients and even lead to life-threatening liver cancer. Therefore, the early prevention and treatment of hepatitis and cirrhosis is very important, and hepatitis-cirrhosis-liver cancer is not the inevitable fate of hepatitis B patients.
What is the connection between cirrhosis and liver cancer and what is the difference between them?
Relationship
The relationship between cirrhosis and liver cancer is very close. Almost every patient we found in the clinic with liver cancer has different degrees of cirrhosis, that is to say, 90% of patients with liver cancer have different degrees of cirrhosis. Generally speaking, hepatitis becomes cirrhosis after 10 years, and after another 10-15 years, some of them become liver cancer.
Distinction
The so-called cirrhosis refers to the occurrence of diffuse damage caused by various pathogenic factors that cause liver damage, resulting in diffuse degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes, excessive proliferation of hepatic connective tissue, i.e., excessive fibrosis, resulting in the remaining regenerated hepatocytes being separated and surrounded by excessive proliferation of fibrous tissue to become regenerated nodules, and eventually forming, i.e., cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis is a sign of the severe stage of progression of chronic hepatitis B. It is divided into compensated and decompensated stages. The compensated stage of cirrhosis usually has no obvious clinical symptoms and signs, while the decompensated stage mainly shows weakness, poor performance, jaundice, ascites, abdominal wall varices, splenomegaly, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, etc.
Liver cancer is related to chronic liver disease (mainly hepatitis B and C virus infection), aflatoxin, drinking water pollution, long-term alcoholism, liver fluke and other factors.
The enlarged and hard liver can be palpated in cirrhosis and advanced liver cancer. In cirrhosis, ultrasound, CT, MRI and other imaging findings can reveal uneven liver surface and blunt liver edge angles, but in liver cancer, imaging findings can also reveal masses of different sizes, which show the typical characteristics of fast in and fast out on enhanced CT, and are often accompanied by elevated alpha-fetoprotein.
According to statistics, 10%-15% of patients who have developed cirrhosis are likely to develop liver cancer, which means that 85%-90% of patients with cirrhosis will not develop cancer.
Is there any way to reverse the process?
Cirrhosis can be reversed and should first be treated for the cause of the disease.
In case of hepatitis B or C virus infection the first step is antiviral treatment.
If fatty liver disease requires attention to moderate exercise and diet modification.
alcoholic liver fibrosis caused by heavy alcohol consumption would need to be strictly controlled within the standards of healthy drinking
drug-induced liver fibrosis should be discontinued promptly.
In conclusion, cirrhosis can be reversed in the majority of cases as long as it is promptly diagnosed and treated.
According to current domestic and foreign research reports, the development of liver fibrosis is directly related to the oxidative stress of the human body. There are several foods with strong antioxidant effects such as blueberries, apples, coffee, green tea, Mao Tai wine (within the standard of healthy drinking), etc. have a good auxiliary dietary effect on liver fibrosis, and liver fibrosis patients can consume them according to the actual situation.
Of course, some high quality plant and animal proteins such as fish, eggs, lean meat and mushrooms should be supplemented regularly, which can provide a better material basis for liver cell repair and regeneration, so that liver fibrosis can be better reversed.
Most of the liver cancers are accompanied by cirrhosis, there are some small exceptions.
(a) The direct evolution of hepatitis into liver cancer is justified by the activation of multiple oncogenes or proto-oncogenes by genes in the hepatitis B virus.
Mutations or deletions in the pre-C or C genes of the hepatitis B virus.
Mutations or deletions in genes stimulated by the persistent chronic inflammation of the hepatitis B virus.
The above three factors or lead to direct hepatocellular carcinogenesis, thus hepatitis B virus has a direct hepatocarcinogenic effect, thus explaining the fact that a minority of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma develop cancer directly from hepatitis without going through the process of cirrhosis.