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The type of cancer that starts in the liver is called Liver Cancer because there are some cancers that develop outside the liver also and then it spread to the area. But only cancers that start in the liver can be described as liver cancer. Liver is located below the right lung and under the ribcage and it is one of the largest organs of the human body. It has a great range of functions that includes removing of toxins from the body, and it is a crucial organ for the survival. Liver cancer develops because of the malignant hepatic tumors in or on the liver.
Let us discuss about some of the main symptoms of the Liver Cancer: The symptoms include jaundice, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, an enlarged liver, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, back pain, itching and fever. However, the signs and symptoms of liver cancer couldn’t be get noticed until the cancer reaches an advanced stage. Some fast facts of liver cancer are as follows:
- Liver cancer doesn’t have a higher survival rate
- Major risk factors in liver cancer include hepatitis, excessive alcohol intake and diabetes.
- The symptoms of liver cancer usually don’t appear until the cancer gets to advanced stages.
- The main treatment options for liver cancer include liver transplant and surgery.
The Stages of Liver Cancer:
Liver cancer is categorized into four stages. The benefit of staging a cancer is it allows a doctor to decide the course of treatment.
Stage I : In the initial stage the tumor is in the liver and it has not spread to another organ or location yet.
Stage II : Second stage occurs when either there are several small tumors and all are remained in the liver or one of those tumors has reached a blood vessel.
Stage III : In stage 3 there have developed various large tumors or one of those tumors has reached the main blood vessels. In this stage cancer have chances to reach the gallbladder.
Stage IV : This stage occurs when the cancer has metastasized which means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Once the doctors found the stage they begin the course of treatment.
How to Diagnose the Liver Cancer?
If the liver cancer gets diagnosed in the early stage then it can drastically improve the chances of survival. In the process of diagnosis, first of all, a doctor asks questions about medical history in order to rule out any potential risk factors for liver cancer. After figuring out the medical history the doctor give a physical examination in which they focus on any swelling in the abdomen or the yellow color in the whites of the eyes. These both are strong indicators of liver problems.
If these signs exist and a doctor suspects a liver cancer diagnosis then they will send you for the further tests, including:
Blood tests: The blood test for liver cancer generally includes the existence of blood clots. Further it encompasses the checking of the levels of other substances in the blood as well as measures the proportions of red and white blood cells and platelets.
Tests for viral hepatitis: The next checkup procedure includes the checking for the presence of hepatitis B and C.
Imaging scans: Further doctors prescribe either an MRI or CT scan. These tests can show the size and spread of the cancer.
Biopsy: In biopsy, doctors analyze that if the tumor is cancerous or non-cancerous. In this process, a small sample of tumor tissue is removed and analyzed
Laparoscopy: In this checkup process a long, flexible tube with a camera attached is inserted in the patient’s body through the abdomen, which allows the doctor to observe surrounding area of the liver.
Once the doctor has diagnosed the existence of liver cancer as well as the stage, location & type of liver cancer, they will be able to decide the safely and effective way to cure it.
Treatment Options for Liver Cancer:
There are basically 2 treatment options available in the medical for treating the liver cancer: 1. Surgery & 2. Liver transplant. The early-stage liver cancer can be treated and the only option is surgery that removes the tumors completely and leads to a chance of recovery. Surgical options encompass the following:
Partial Hepatectomy
The Partial Hepatectomy Surgery is applied when the tumor is small and occupies a small part of the liver. And in this surgery that part of the liver can be surgically removed. However in many people with liver cancer this surgery has cirrhosis. This means that the hepatectomy needs to leave behind sufficient healthy tissue behind for the liver to perform its necessary functions properly after the procedure.
And this is to be decided during surgery, and if the risk to the patient is deemed to be too great then the procedure may be cancelled halfway through. Partial hepatectomy is considered only for the people with healthy liver function otherwise. When the cancer has spread to other parts of the liver or other organs in the body then this procedure is often not an option.
Please Note: Liver surgery of this scale can cause very excessive bleeding and blood-clotting issues. Moreover, the chances of infections and pneumonia also increase.
Liver Transplant
The patients for a liver transplant first of all shouldn’t have a tumor larger than 5 cm or several tumors larger than 3 cm. The risk of the cancer returning is too great to justify if the tumor is larger than this. But the good thing is that with a successful transplant, the normal function can be restored and the risk of cancer returning is greatly reduced. However, there are possibilities that the immune system rejects the new organ and start attacking it as a foreign body.
Apart from that, there are limited opportunities to carry out transplants because only around 6,500 livers are available each year, and many of those also are used to treat diseases other than liver cancer. Moreover, the drugs that are used to suppress the immune system to accommodate a new liver to be its own part can also lead to serious infections and, many times even the spreading of already metastasized tumors.
Treatment for incurable tumors
On the other hand, the advanced liver cancer has an extremely low survival rate. But, there are some steps a medical team can take in order to treat cancer symptoms and to slow down the growth of the tumor.
Ablative therapy: In this therapy substances are injected directly into the tumor like alcohol. Sometimes, lasers and radio waves can also be used.
Radiation therapy: In this kind of therapy, radiation is directed at the tumor or tumors which kill a significant number of them. As the consequence the patients may experience nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.
Chemotherapy: In chemotherapy, medications are directly injected into the liver in order to kill cancer cells. In chemoembolization, what happens is that the blood supply to the tumor is blocked surgically or mechanically, and some drugs of anti-cancer are administered directly into the tumor.
Treatment options can vary, because it depends on the type of liver cancer a patient is having.