At early stage, symptoms of liver cancer are not obvious. Mostly, symptoms can be detected at an advanced stage. In daily life, many patients ignore early symptoms and they are told that they are advance level cancer patients when they realize. Then what are symptoms of liver cancer？

Signs of Liver Cancer:

1、Hepatalgia: Continuous dull pain in hepatic region of right upper quadrant is an important and the most frequent symptom of primary hepatic carcinoma. It is caused by rapidly increasing liver which make liver capsule tense or by malignant tumors’ violation of liver capsule or peritoneum. It can be continuous dull pain or gas pain. When malignant tumors violate diaphragma, patient will feel pain in right shoulder or right back. Tumors growing toward rear right can cause pain in right waist. When cancer nodules rupture, necrotic cancer tissues and blood flow into abdomen. Then patient suffers severe abdominal pain. Symptoms and signs of peritonitis appear.

2、Hepatomegaly: It is the most frequent sign of primary liver cancer. Liver is increasing swelling, solid with uneven surface. Different-size tubercles or lumps cause local eminence, untidily borderline with tenderness.

3、Jaundice: One third of patients suffer it. Mostly, it occurs at an advanced stage liver cancer. And it is caused by damage of liver cells or by malignant tumors which press bile duct.

4、Fever: In general, patient suffers low-grade fever, occasionally above 39℃. It can be continuous low-grade fever or irregular hyperpyrexia. The reason is that organism absorbs a large quantity of damaged tumor tissues. Or it may be result of cholangitis or concurrent infection caused by malignant tumors pressing bile duct.

5、Alimentary canal and general symptoms: Decreased food appetite, dyspepsia, nausea, emesia, diarrhea, acratia, maciei, asthenia universalis and cachexia.

6、Symptoms of metastasis: Relative symptoms appear when liver cancer with metastasis to stomach, bone, pelvis cavity and brain. For example, pulmonary metastasis cause cough and emptysis; pleural metastasis cause chest pain and bloody hydrothorax; osseous metastasis cause local pain or pathologic fracture; metastasis to spinal column or press spinal nerves can cause local pain and paraplegia; Brain metastasis can cause headache, emesis and signs of nerve localization.

7、Other symptoms: Endocrine syndrome or metabolic endocrine, also called syndrome associated with cancer, are caused by abnormal metabolism in malignant tumors.

(1) Spontaneous hypoglycemia: 10% to 30% of patients suffer it. It is caused by liver cells secreting insulin or insulin-like substance not only in pancreatic islet. It is also caused by hepatocellular carcinoma tissue consuming too much glucose. Sever patients may hepatocyte, shock even die.

(2) Globulism: 2% to 10% patients suffer it. It is caused by increasing haemopoietin in circulation.

(3) Others: There are also hyperlipemia, hypercalcinemia, carcinoid syndrome, gonadotrophins syndrome, skin porphyria and dysfibrinogenemia. These symptoms may be related to synthesis of paraprotein, dystopia endocrine seretion and porphyrin metabolism disorder in liver cancer tissue.

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Liver cancer refers to malignant tumor in liver, with patients’ average age 44. The average live time is half a year without timely treatment or proper treatment plan. There is no obvious symptom in the early stage. Once detected, it’s already in middle or advanced stage. Therefore, it’s very important to make a timely and effective diagnosis for liver cancer.

Diagnosis Methods of Liver Cancer

1、Ultrasound diagnosis: It applies B-type ultrasonography to indicate the sizes, shape of tumor and can discover the lesion whose diameter is about 2cm or even less, and it has became the most common and effective method for diagnosing liver cancer;

2、Radioisotopic hepatic scanning: shows enlargement of liver and liver has lost its normal morph. But such scanning can hardly indicate the tumor with diameter less than 3 cm on the films;

3、CT check: CT features high resolution and can detect early liver cancer with tumor’s diameter even being about 1cm;

4、MRI: MRI has high sensitive and can distinguish benign and malignant tumor;

5、Selective celiac or hepatic arteriography: it can indicate out tumor with the diameter even among 0.5-1cm and localize the position of lesion, as well as its sizes, distributions. This is especially valid for small tumor localization of liver cancer.

Experts from St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou remind that as for liver cancer’s diagnosis, in order to guarantee the effect and safety of exam, it’s necessary to go to a regular hospital.

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Liver Cancer Stages and Corresponding 5-year Survival Rate：

• Early stage of primary liver: 31%
• Liver cancer metastasis to lymph nodes: 11%
• Liver cancer metastasis to distant organs: 3%

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