Hepatitis – Cirrhosis – Liver Cancer Trilogy
1.What are the ways to spread hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a blood-borne disease, mainly transmitted by blood, mother-to-child transmission and sexual transmission. There is also a certain proportion of transmission from broken skin and mucous membranes, such as tattoos and ear piercing. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is not transmitted through the respiratory and digestive tracts, so daily study, work or living contacts (such as being in the same office, sharing a dormitory, eating together and hugging, shaking hands, etc.) will not be infected with HBV.
2.Is it true that there is a “trilogy of liver cancer” in medical science?
The “liver cancer trilogy” is a very obvious phenomenon discovered by the medical profession through years of clinical trials. It is observed clinically that many patients have a history of acute hepatitis – chronic hepatitis – cirrhosis – liver cancer, which shows that hepatitis is extremely close to liver cancer. It is also noted in domestic research on liver cancer that the proportion of hepatitis in the population with high incidence of liver cancer is high, and the number of hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) positive patients among liver cancer patients is significantly higher than that of HbsAg negative patients. Chronic hepatitis can also lead to liver cancer directly without going through the stage of hepatic sclerosis. Therefore, there is a scientific basis for the “liver cancer trilogy”.
3.Will hepatitis B definitely lead to liver cancer?
Among the patients with cirrhosis and liver cancer in China, 80%-90% are hepatitis B virus carriers. Of course, not all people infected with hepatitis B virus will eventually develop cirrhosis and liver cancer, but the key is to control hepatitis B in time. As mentioned above, the progression from hepatitis B virus infection to liver cancer is a chronic process, and as long as we do a good job in treating and stopping the progression, more than 95% of patients do not have to worry about this problem.
However, if we carefully review the medical history of primary liver cancer, we can easily find that nearly half of the patients are so-called “healthy virus carriers”, and the most obvious characteristics of these patients are: 1. The most obvious characteristics of these patients are: 1) they have “major triple-positive” or “minor triple-positive” laboratory tests, but their liver functions are basically normal; 2) they are insidious before the discovery of liver cancer and have no obvious symptoms or even any signs such as discomfort in the liver area. This performance has sounded an alarm to both doctors and patients: if hepatitis B patients are not treated in a timely and standardized manner, they may be just one step away from liver cancer! Only through scientific and standardized treatment can we effectively prevent hepatitis B from turning into liver cancer.
For hepatitis B virus carriers or hepatitis B patients, as well as patients with other liver diseases, in addition to timely treatment with doctors to prevent cancer, daily living habits are also very important. Excessive smoking and drinking, lack of sleep due to excessive nightlife, overly greasy diet, and prolonged emotional depression and pessimism are all very harmful to the liver. Therefore, apart from timely treatment, a healthy lifestyle is a panacea to prevent the disease.
Six Questions on Liver Cancer
1.How can we prevent liver cancer?
According to our national conditions, the policy of “changing water, preventing mold and hepatitis” in areas with high incidence of liver cancer has achieved initial benefits; in the world, the main measure to prevent liver cancer is hepatitis B vaccine.
2.How to detect liver cancer early and curb it in the early stage?
The most important thing is to raise the awareness of self-care. For example, people at risk in high incidence areas or those who already suffer from chronic hepatitis should have regular medical checkups to help early diagnosis of cancer.
3.Is liver cancer hereditary?
Liver cancer is not equal to hereditary disease. However, there are genetic factors in the process of its occurrence and development. Liver cancer is a multifactorial and multi-stage disease, and the cause of liver cancer is not very clear yet.
4.Is liver cancer contagious?
In principle, it is not contagious, but it may be related to infectious diseases in the process of development. For example, hepatitis B itself is contagious, and in China, it is an important cause of liver cancer, and many liver cancer patients have hepatitis B in the early stage. We can say that some liver cancers are caused by infectious diseases, but direct transmission of liver cancer does not usually exist. However, the occurrence of liver cancer is a family aggregation phenomenon, for example, the mother has active hepatitis leading to cirrhosis, which develops into liver cancer; due to the “vertical transmission” of hepatitis from the mother, the child is infected with hepatitis after birth and does not receive timely and effective treatment, which can also develop into liver cancer.
5.With liver cancer, should I rest or exercise more?
If you have the disease, you should first go to the hospital for treatment. During the recovery period, you should listen to the doctor’s advice on whether to recuperate or to exercise more, and these two aspects are not separate. Doctors do not advocate that patients should be disconnected from society and lie down at home to recuperate, but proper participation in exercise and socialization is beneficial to recovery.
6.Do I have to suffer from deadly pain if I have liver cancer?
Patients with intermediate and advanced liver cancer will have painful symptoms, but not necessarily everyone is in pain, and the pain problem of cancer patients has been given considerable attention, and making patients “pain-free” is an important purpose of treatment.