Advanced Liver Cancer Symptoms

Liver cancer attacks the healthy cells of the liver that is hard to detect early. The prognosis for this cancer is quite grim because it often show no symptoms.

It is one of the few kinds of cancer that is increasing in terms of new diagnoses since early stages of liver cancer typically do not show many symptoms. The symptoms may be observed once the cancer has advanced to more severe stages.

The cancer may begin in the small cells of the liver or it can be caused by spreading of cancers from others part in body. That is why the disease included to metastasis cancer.

People must be recognizing the signs and symptoms may prevent further delays in treatment although the prognosis for the disease is poor.

Even most people will not have symptoms of liver cancer until the disease is advanced, there are several major symptoms that easy to recognize as symptoms of this cancer.

Many liver cancer patients report abdominal pain in their stomach that is consistent and lasts for long periods of time. Pain in their upper abdomen can also radiate to the back or shoulder. Abdominal pain can also mean that the cancerous tumor has spread across a large area of the liver.

This is the most-common symptom of liver cancer which might not be painful, but it could be tender. Another symptom of the disease is include nausea and weight loss. Many patients will lose their weight because of frequent vomiting or lack of desire to eat.

Jaundice is another symptom of this disease. Jaundice causes the eyes and skin to take on a yellowish color and may also cause very dark urine. Also, it can cause feelings of fatigue and weakness like many others cancer's symptoms such as pancreatic cancer symptoms.

Regular check-ups are so important since symptoms may not present themselves until the cancer has reached an advanced stage.

Know more about cancer disease and the symptoms in lobular breast cancer site.

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How to Prevent Liver Cancer Effectively

There are many people are very anxious of this disease. This is because that until now, the cure or medicine is yet a mystery, although, there is one good prevention to stop this disease.

Liver cancer starts from hepatitis B infection that usually occurs in the liver. The causative agent for this disease is hepatitis B virus. As it progresses it will lead the liver to cancer stage. This can happen in both children and adults. Liver cancer pain is really tough and hard to deal with.

The spread of Hepatitis B are through many ways like accidentally puncture with needle, during childbirth and unsafe sex. Through knowing these pathways of spread, extra careful is indeed needed.

Liver cancer function to destroy the liver. Liver shall be destructed severely and will not work normally. Severity can lead to death. That is the reason why, that preventions must be observed carefully to protect one self and to prevent the spread of the disease as well.

There are effective ways to prevent cancer of the liver:

1) Vaccine - there are no cancer vaccine for liver,, but there is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis B. knowing that hepatitis B is the early stage of cancer of the liver, this must be prevented as early as possible by having the injected vaccine.

2) Sharp materials - most especially contaminated needles. This usually happens inside the hospital, laboratory and other sectors that use needles. Accidental puncture of contaminated needles can really lead a person to hepatitis B and eventually to cancer of the liver if remained un-cared or not maintained.

3) Food contamination - this is a very obvious symptom that anyone must take into consideration. Street foods are not advisable because there are foods and beverages sold in the streets that could not be healthy for you. Most especially for foods that were not covered properly for safety and contamination free.

4) Alcohol - This is the number one factor that can lead to liver cirrhosis. Abuse drinking of alcohol can also lead to cancer of the liver. Too much of alcohol can destroy the normal functioning of the liver.

These are the effective ways to prevent liver cancer. If prevention can be done early, there shall be no cancer. Safety of all human is the priority. Spread the good word to prevent this cancer.

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Liver Cancer - Incidence, Symptoms, Causation, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis

Liver cancer also known as primary or metastatic hepatic carcinoma is a fairly rare form of cancer in the western world (1% of all cancers) but much more common in Africa and parts of Asia (10% to 50% of all cancers). It is much more prevalent in men and incidence increases with age. This cancer is rapidly fatal, usually within 6 months from gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hepatic failure or metastasis.

TYPES OF LIVE CANCER
Most primary liver tumors are known as hepatomas (hepatocellular carcinoma and primary lower cell carcinoma). Some primary cancers originate in the bile duct and these are known as cholangiomas. Some rare liver tumors include Kupffer cell sarcoma and hepatoblastomas (which occur almost exclusively in children and are usually respectable and curable). Metastatic cancer is 20 times more common than primary liver cancer and after cirrhosis this is the leading form of liver related death.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
This cancer does not normally cause symptoms until it is in an advanced stage.
Clinical effects of advanced liver tumors include:

1. A mass in the right upper side.
2. Tender, nodular liver on palpation
3. Severe pain in the epigastrium or upper right side
4. Weight loss, anorexia, weakness, fever
5. Occasional jaundice or ascites (fluid in the abdomen)

CAUSATION
The exact cause is unknown in adults but in children it may be a genetic disease. Adult liver carcinomas may result from environmental exposure to carcinogens such as mold, contrast media (no longer in use), androgens and oral estrogens, the hepatitis B virus or by damage to the liver due to cirrhosis caused by too much prolonged imbibing of alcohol.

DIAGNOSIS
It is difficult to diagnose in the presence of cirrhosis, but several tests can help identify it: The combination of an imaging study (ultrasound, CT, or MRI scans) and an elevated blood level of alpha-fetoprotein will most effectively diagnose liver cancer, electrolyte studies may indicate increased sodium retention, a liver biopsy can make a definitive diagnosis.

TREATMENT
Treatments depend on the extent (stage) of the disease, age, overall health, feelings and personal preferences. Surgery is the most effective treatment for primary cancer, but this is not always possible due to the size or position of the tumor. Radiofrequency ablation is an option for people with small, unresectable hepatocellular tumors and for some types of metastatic liver cancers. During this procedure, the hepatic artery (the artery from which the cancers derive their blood supply) is blocked, and chemotherapy drugs are injected between the blockage and the liver. Cryoablation may be an option for people with inoperable primary and metastatic liver cancers. Removing the whole liver and replacing it with a liver from another person is another possible form of treatment for primary liver cancer.

Even when treatments fail to provide much improvement in the cancer itself, pain and other signs and symptoms caused can be aggressively treated to improve quality of life. In general, the treatments available for children are the same as for adults, and the best approach depends on the stage and type of cancer as well as the child's age and overall health.

PROGNOSIS
Prognosis is poor when cancer is advanced, but for small tumors that are confined to the liver, ablative therapies are palliative and surgical resection or liver transplantation is sometimes curative.

Dick Aronson has a background of over 35 years in various facets of the Healthcare industry. He now runs health sites, including: http://www.life-wave-patches.com and http://www.healthinnovationsonline.com

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