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Liver Cancer
Overview of Liver Cancer
Worldwide, liver cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, with over 600,000 cases in 2002. Unfortunately people diagnosed with this form of cancer have a poor prognosis and many sufferers fail to respond to treatment and so survive less than a year following diagnosis.
There are two main types of liver cancer:
· Primary liver cancer is where the initial tumor develops within the liver and quickly spreads throughout the organ.
· Secondary liver cancer which is also known as metastatic liver cancer is where the initial tumour originates elsewhere in the body and then later spreads to the liver e.g. lung, breast, colon, pancreas and stomach cancers all commonly go on to cause cancer of the liver.
Risk Factors of Liver Cancer
In developed countries most cases of liver cancer occur following long-standing cirrhosis which in turn develops as a response to chronic alcohol abuse. Surprisingly this form of cancer is less common in developed countries than in developing countries where it is closely linked to viral hepatitis. Other possible causes of liver cancer include contamination of food by carcinogens e.g. aflatoxin which is produced by a type of fungus which grows on stored grain and peanuts, infection by liver flukes and exposure to certain cancer-causing chemicals in the workplace.
The risk of developing primary liver cancer increases with age and research has shown that the disease is around four times more common in males than females. Secondary liver cancer only occurs in people who are already fighting another form of cancer but again the risk increases with age.
Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer
There are a number of common liver cancer symptoms including the following:
- Sudden weight loss.
- High grade fever.
- Pain in the upper right side of the abdomen.
- Jaundice which presents as yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.
As the disease progresses the symptoms of liver cancer worsen, as does the pain associated with the disease, and the abdomen often becomes swollen due to the accumulation of fluid.
Treatment for Liver Cancer
Once liver cancer has been diagnosed a number of medical imaging tests will often be conducted so that the extent of the disease can be determined and a prognosis can be given. Unfortunately the only liver cancer therapy that offers the chance of a cure is surgery. A liver transplant is an option however in many cases it is not performed because this form of cancer is likely to recur. More commonly, liver cancer treatment aims to slow the progress of the disease and chemotherapy is a popular option. A relatively new treatment for liver cancer blocks off the blood supply to the tumour so that over time it shrinks in size. This helps to control the disease but again it doesn’t result in cure.
Liver cancer prognosis is never good and this is especially true when there is more than one metastatic tumor within the liver. Sadly very few sufferers survive longer than two years after their initial diagnosis, even when the disease is caught in the early stages.
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