The liver is a small gland found in the center of the abdomen, just behind the ribs. It’s one of the three major types of glands in the human body. The liver constantly filters the blood, transforming waste and nutrients absorbed from the digestive system into ready-to-be-used substances.

Liver cancer, sometimes known as hepatic adenocarcinoma, is a cancer that occurs when normal healthy cells grow faster and leave less room for normal cells to grow.

Types Of Liver Cancer

Hepatic cancer can be divided into two types:

  • Primary liver cancer occurs when cancer occurs in the tissue around the liver.
  • The other type of primary liver cancer, which is the rarer type is referred to as hepatocellular cancer.
  • There are also a variety of other forms of cancer of the liver such as hepatic neoplasms (cancer of the liver that is non-invasive) and metastasized cancer of the liver (cancer that spreads from outside the liver into the liver). These cancers can present with similar symptoms and may not always be related to the primary cancer.

Symptoms Of Liver Cancer

Liver cancer symptoms can vary from person to person. Some people have no symptoms and it’s not until the disease has progressed that you’ll be able to tell. There are many symptoms associated with liver cancer, although not all of them are obvious, which makes it very hard to diagnose correctly. Liver cancer can manifest itself in different ways depending on the stage of the disease. Some patients may develop a single symptom like nausea or vomiting, while other patients may suffer from multiple symptoms, which may be similar but have different origins.  If they occur suddenly, the most common symptoms include vomiting and nausea. After some time, the patient will experience abdominal pain and weakness. At times, a patient may also feel chills or fever.

Symptoms of liver cancer often start showing in a patient after some time. If you suspect some of the symptoms described at length below, a smart idea would be to get an Ezra full body scan. Liver cancer MRI scans are routinely performed on patients who are suspected of having this type of cancer. This MRI scan can detect a tumor in its early stages, which makes the treatment options more effective.

1. Weight Loss

One symptom of this type of cancer is weight loss. Weight loss due to liver cancer is often associated with jaundice and high blood sugar levels. Because weight loss is often caused by the symptoms described above, doctors often prescribe medications to help reduce these symptoms. These medications usually reduce appetite, decrease the pain that occurs when vomiting, decrease the fever that occurs with jaundice, decrease the inflammation that accompanies hepatitis, and reduce the amount of blood in the urine. Although these medications can reduce symptoms in some patients, these medications cannot prevent the cancer from returning.

2. Jaundice

Many of the same symptoms of liver cancer occur in the form of jaundice. Jaundice, an often-diagnosed liver condition, is one of several liver conditions that can cause an abnormal color to appear on the skin of a person who is undergoing tests for liver disease.

Because jaundice is associated with a chronic liver disorder, it is important that the condition is treated early in order to reduce the risk of complications. Once jaundice begins to appear, it can spread throughout the body and eventually to the brain. It may also be harmful to the fetus of a pregnant woman, which can result in the baby being born with jaundice and other developmental problems.

3. Nausea and Vomiting

The symptoms that are often seen in patients who suffer from liver cancer are nausea or vomiting. Other symptoms and signs of liver problems include pain in the abdomen, jaundice, loss of appetite and fatigue. Sometimes, a patient may experience abdominal swelling, fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. If symptoms occur in combination, it is considered as an indicator of another health problem.

Sometimes, other types of cancers may also develop because of the presence of cancer in the body, most commonly in the pancreas, kidney, lung and heart. In some cases, liver or kidney cancer may lead to death because the cancer spreads to these organs and causes further damage. Most doctors recommend treating liver and kidney cancer with chemotherapy.

4. Failure of Immune System

Another symptom of cancer is due to the failure of body immunity to fight against the germs that are introduced into the body, this is referred to as infection. Infections can affect several organs, most commonly the kidneys. The immune system may become ineffective and the body may be subjected to the risk of acquiring many types of infections such as hepatitis, HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. Cancer of the liver is a common type of infection that is associated with infection with HIV and hepatitis.

Liver cancer does not usually kill the person who has it but, if left untreated, it can progress to the point where the patient could die. One way to help prevent this is by avoiding alcohol. It’s also very important to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables as well as drinking a lot of fluids. A liver cleansing diet can also help in cleansing the body of toxic substances. Many herbs are known to be effective against liver cancer and, if used together, they can help greatly reduce the cancerous growths.

Conclusion

It can be a daunting task to try and determine if you’re suffering from the symptoms of liver cancer, particularly since there are many different types of it. This is why it’s important that you get checked out by your physician whenever you feel that something isn’t right with you, no matter how little you may have felt the pain yourself. If you or someone in your family has been diagnosed with liver cancer, then you’ll need to know some of the warning signs so that you can make sure that you’re getting the necessary treatment. With proper testing and diagnosis, this can be treated in a manner that is not only effective but safe as well.