As we all know, the threat of tumors to health and life depends not only on the type of tumor, but more importantly, the time for tumor discovery sooner or later. Liver cancer is one of the representatives. Studies have shown that advanced liver cancer, the mortality rate within 1 year can reach more than 90%, while early liver cancer, after surgical treatment, the mortality rate is less than 2%. Unfortunately, 60% of liver cancer patients are diagnosed when liver cancer develops in the middle or advanced stages, and many patients even regard the early manifestations of liver cancer as a symptom of stomach disease for a long time, thus losing the opportunity to save. So, how to identify the early signs of liver cancer? Who is the focus of screening?
Let's first look at the manifestations of liver cancer. Patients with liver cancer, at different stages of cancer development, usually have 5 types of manifestations. Category 1, fatigue and wasting, usually occurs after the middle stage of liver cancer, due to metabolic changes, reduced eating, resulting in wasting constitution. Category 2, fever, is typically manifested by an afternoon fever with a body temperature of around 38 degrees Celsius. Category 3, similar to indigestion, such as fullness after meals, loss of appetite, or nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Category 4, abdominal pain. Category 5, other symptoms, such as bleeding gums, subcutaneous ecchymosis.
The study found that about 37% of liver cancer patients ignored the frequent stomach pain phenomenon and mistakenly responded to their condition according to stomach disease, resulting in delays in diagnosis and treatment. From anatomical position, the liver and stomach are adjacent; in terms of physiological function, both the liver and the stomach are digestive organs. In addition, there is also a folk saying that there are ten stomach and nine diseases, because the incidence of various stomach diseases is high, and stomach diseases are naturally thought of when abdominal discomfort and gastrointestinal symptoms occur. This is a relevant factor that makes it difficult for a large number of liver cancer patients to be diagnosed at an early stage.
Liver cancer caused by stomach pain, most of the occurrence site is located in the right rib or under the sword process, the nature of pain is persistent dull pain, dull pain, tingling, the appearance or relief of pain, usually not significantly associated with eating, which is an important feature to distinguish from stomach pain. In addition, abdominal pain caused by liver cancer can cause referred pain. Causes pain in the right shoulder or right back. In advanced stages of liver cancer, if metastasis occurs, it can cause chest pain or bone pain. If the tumor nodule on the surface of the liver ruptures and bleeds, it will cause severe pain, accompanied by dizziness, palpitation, and decreased blood pressure.
It is worth noting that the liver function test results are normal and do not rule out the possibility of liver cancer. Because, in the early or middle stages of liver cancer, there may be a mild elevation of transaminases, which is easy to ignore. From the physiological characteristics, the liver has a strong regeneration and reserve capacity, as long as about 30% of the liver cells work normally, the liver can still perform related functions, and even will not appear obvious discomfort symptoms, liver function tests of a number of indicators, there will be no obvious abnormalities.
The screening of liver cancer is mainly through ultrasound testing and alpha-fetoprotein detection. Ultrasound examination can find liver cancer lesions with a diameter of more than 1 cm, and alpha-fetoprotein is a specific marker of liver cancer and is one of the criteria for diagnosing primary liver cancer. In order to prevent and detect liver cancer early, it is recommended that high-risk people undergo ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein tests every six months, and the screening targets include hepatitis B or C infection, patients with severe fatty liver disease, people with cirrhosis or family history of liver cancer, and long-term alcohol abuse. Other groups, if males over 40 and females over 50, should be screened for liver cancer once a year.
It should be reminded that most of the liver cancer patients among our compatriots are related to hepatitis virus infection, of which 90% of liver cancer patients have been carriers of hepatitis B virus or hepatitis B patients. Carriers of the hepatitis B virus do not necessarily develop liver cancer, but 10% to 20% of chronic hepatitis B patients will develop cirrhosis, while 5% to 20% of cirrhosis will develop liver cancer. In addition, 30% to 40% of patients with hepatitis C will develop cirrhosis, and 5% to 7% of them will develop primary liver cancer. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis and the prevention of the development of cirrhosis are important measures to reduce the risk of liver cancer.
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