Liver Cancer (Overview): Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Posted by Xiao Ling on February 18th, 2020

Liver Cancer (Overview): Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

What is Liver Cancer?

Liver cancer occurs in the liver that destroys the cells and prevents it from functioning normally. It is classified into two: primary and secondary liver cancer. Primary liver cancer begins in the cells of the liver. Secondary liver cancer develops when cancer cells from the other organ spread to the liver.

Symptoms

Once your liver damaged, signs and symptoms may occur, including abdominal pain and jaundice, in which your skin becomes yellow. Other signs are non-specific, such as nausea, vomiting, weight loss, fever, fatigue, and bruising or bleeding easily.

Diagnostic Tests and Procedures

The liver cancer surgeon may perform diagnostic tests and procedures, including asking the person’s medical history and a physical examination.

• Blood tests: Blood tests detect liver function abnormalities if it shows too many or too few of a type of blood cell or abnormal cells.
• Imaging scans: Ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI help to determine the size and where a tumor is developing, and if the cancer cell already spread to other organs.
• Biopsy:  It is performed by a surgeon who removes a small piece of liver tissue for testing for signs of damage or disease. A liver biopsy may be recommended if blood tests or imaging scans show you might have a liver problem.
• Laparoscopy surgery: it is a surgical procedure with a long, flexible tube with a camera attached insert through the abdominal wall to examine the organs in the abdomen.

Treatments

Liver Cancer Surgery

Hepatectomy or surgical resection in which a liver cancer surgeon removes either a portion of the liver if your tumor is small or all of the liver if your liver does not function very well.

Liver Transplant

A liver transplant is performed by a liver cancer surgeon in which removed the entire diseased liver and replaced it with a healthy liver from a suitable donor.

Ablation

Ablation is a treatment in which a liver cancer surgeon places a needle into the tumor and uses radio waves, electromagnetic waves, or ethanol to destroy the cancer cells.

Immunotherapy

It is the use of medicines that help a person’s immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It can be used to treat some people with cancer in the liver.

Radiation Therapy

It is also called radiosurgery, which involves intense energy radiation beams and a computer to concentrate in an accurate location to kill cancer cells.

Targeted Therapy

This treatment uses drugs to identify and hit the cancer cells where they are vulnerable. They decrease the growth of the tumor and help shut down blood supply to the tumor.

Embolization and Chemoembolization

It is performed by a liver cancer surgeon in which injects substances directly into an artery in the liver to reduce the blood flow to a tumor in the liver so that the cancer cells die.

If you had been diagnosed with liver cancer or looking for advanced treatments and care for liver conditions, you may seek medical attention from a liver cancer surgeon. It is also important to report it to your physician if there are new or severe side effects that occur in the treatment because it may lead to acute or chronic liver disease, infections, or other medical conditions. Let your liver specialist know so that they can assess the causes and have it treated.