What are Symptoms of Liver Cancer?
|
|
Liver cancer is a type of cancer that affects the liver. It may be the primary form of cancer, which means the cancer begins in the cells of the liver, or it may be metastatic cancer, which means the cancer spreads from other areas of the body to the liver. Liver cancer is rare in the United States, with the average age of diagnosis being around 60 or 70. Liver cancer is far more common in certain parts of Asia and in Africa. Regardless of the country, it occurs more frequently in men than in women.
There are a number of symptoms associated with liver cancer. Some of the most common symptoms include bloating and a feeling of abdominal fullness for no apparent reason. Weakness, fatigue, and unexplained fever are also signs of liver cancer, as is a dull pain in the upper portion of the abdomen. This pain may also extend into the patient’s shoulder and back. Anorexia is also a common symptom of liver cancer, as the patient experiences loss of appetite, vomiting, and nausea.
The symptoms of liver cancer can differ in patients who also have cirrhosis. Cirrhosis causes the symptoms to come on more quickly and to be more intense. Individuals with liver cancer that do not have cirrhosis, however, may not notice the symptoms at all. As the liver cancer tumor grows larger, the affected person may also start to feel pain in his or her back. Portal hypertension and jaundice, which is characterized by the skin and the white portion of the eye becoming yellow, may also occur.
In order to diagnose liver cancer, a doctor must take a computed tomography (CT) scan, a radioisotope scan, or a hepatic arteriography. Most patients are in the advanced stages of liver cancer before it is diagnosed. At this stage, the cancer has usually spread to other organs – most commonly the brain and the lungs - and to the lymphatic system. Individuals with liver cancer who do not receive treatment have a life expectancy of three to four months. Those who receive treatment typically live six to eighteen months if the therapy used to treat the disease is successful.
|
Related wiseGEEK articles
Category
wiseGEEK features
Subscribe to wiseGEEK
|
3
Are all these flushes really healthy for you? Even if you are already healthy? I am afraid colon cleansing and the flushes you indicate may cause other problems for me. - Sassycat44
2
Congestion of the liver can lead to cancer. When the liver is congested and gallstones are present in the gallbladder one needs to do 6 to 8 liver flushes. However, the steps are important. The best guide I have found for this is Andea Moritz's book "The Amazing Liver and Galbladder Flush". Most important is to do a parasite cleanse before the flush and a colonic the day of the flush and 3 days after. Many issues can be cleared up including high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and yes, cancer. This becomes quite a journey of learning how to treat and feed your body and how to keep your colon and liver clean, but in the end you will be alive and healthy. - VivianSez
1
Unfortunately it is one of the more difficult cancers to treat. When the symptoms appear, the cancer tends to be in advanced stages.
Risk of liver cancer is increased by excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and diabetes. There are other factors too, and we probably do not even know them all. - somerset
|
Written by
Shannon Kietzman
copyright © 2003 - 2009
conjecture corporation
