Fundamental Facts of Liver Cancer

Tumors of the liver can be classified as primary or metastatic. Moreover, primary tumors can be benign or malignant. These benign tumors are quite rare, but have been reported with increasing frequency in women taking oral contraceptives for long periods. Most benign tumors have no symptoms and may regress when the oral contraceptives are discontinued. Liver cancer is more common than benign tumors and you must have the knowledge about this in order to know what you can do to prevent it or manage and treat it.

The predisposing risk factors of liver cancer which led to its development are chronic liver disease from hepatitis, alcoholic and post necrotic cirrhosis, long term androgenic therapy, long term use of oral contraceptive and exposure to inorganic arsenic, vinyl chloride, and various pesticides which are harmful to the liver. These risk factors are somehow linked to the development of liver cancer.

Primary liver tumors may originate in the liver cells, bile ducts, or both. The lesions may be singular, nodular or diffuse, and may involve only a lobe or the entire liver. The malignant cells compress the surrounding normal liver cells and may spread by invading the branches of the portal vein, causing the liver to be enlarged and misshapen. Hemorrhage and necrosis are common. Direct extension of the tumor to the gallbladder, mesentery, peritoneum and diaphragm is also possible too. Primary liver tumors commonly metastasize to the lung and also metastasize to the portal lymph nodes, adrenal glands, spleen, kidney, ovaries and pancreas.

Liver cancer symptoms may be absent, minimal, or severe depending on the tumor size and the hepatocellular damage. It can be manifested by weight loss and hepatomegaly with pain or tenderness in the right upper quadrant. Other common findings include a mass in the liver, blood tinged ascites and cachexia. Jaundice is uncommon until the terminal stage of the disease.

Prevention of liver cancer is directed at those factors that have been identified as predisposing individuals to risk. The potential for controlling this type of carcinoma through prevention of chronic liver disease from cirrhosis and hepatitis is excellent and deserves special attention. Immunization against hepatitis B virus is an effective method of prevention and should be used at a personal and community level as indicated.

Long term survival of patients with malignancies of the liver is dismal. Treatment is supportive and similar to that of patients with cirrhosis. Surgical resection is considered when there is no cirrhosis, the lesion is located in a surgically accessible area and is not multicentric and there is no spread to adjacent organs.

Other treatment modalities have been used but are only palliative. Intra-arterial infusion of chemotherapeutic agents to deliver high concentration of drugs to the tumor with fewer side effects than systemic chemotherapy can be opted. Hepatic artery embolization which reduces the blood flow to the tumor has only a short term effect due to the rapid development of collateral blood flow. Radiation therapy is also used to reduce the size of the tumor.

These are the basic facts that you need to consider when it comes to cancer of the liver. Knowledge about this kind of condition helps you think what actions that you must do in order to take care of the liver and prevent cancer.

There are specific risk factors of liver cancer that are linked to its development. These factors can be prevented if you know the basic about cancer of the liver. Find out more at http://cancerliver.org/blog/.

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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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