Symptoms of liver cancer

Liver cancer

Liver cancer affects the cell of the liver, which is placed in the upper right part of the abdomen, above the stomach and beneath the diaphragm. This type of cancer is not unusual, but sometimes it appears when the cancer is spread from some other area to the liver, for example, when the cancer starts in the lungs or colon, and then expands to the liver. In such cases, it is called metastatic cancer rather than liver cancer. The liver cancer may be caused by a chronic infection with certain hepatitisviruses.

According to the kinds of cancerous cells, liver cancer can be divided into four types. The most common is nitrocellulose carcinoma, which starts in the main liver cells called hepatocytes. Cholangiocarcinoma or usually called bile duct cancer is a type of liver cancer that affects first tube-like bile ducts in the liver. Furthermore, the type of liver cancer that affects children younger than 4, and that can be successfully treated if it is noticed on time, is called hepatoblastoma. Angiosarcoma, also called hemangiosarcoma, is a rare type of liver cancer that starts in the blood vessels of the liver.

Symptoms of liver cancer

Liver cancer does not show the sign of its presence in the early phases, but later, when they begin to appear, the most common are the loss of weight and loss of appetite. The thing that somebody is losing weight is not so much strange, but when it happens without an obvious reason and if the person is not on a diet, it must be taken seriously. Furthermore, the person who suffers from liver cancer may experience the pain in the upper abdomen and abdominal swelling. Abdominal swelling occurs because the liver is growing as the result of the cancer, or due to the retention of fluid in abdomen, which is medically called ascites. The fluid retains in the abdomen because the congested liver presses the blood vessels and the blood is thus backed up in the veins. Therefore, the fluid leaks from the veins into the abdomen.

Nausea, vomiting, and jaundice are also some of the warning signs of liver cancer. Tiredness, fatigue and exhaustion are also considered to be the symptoms of this disease. Moreover, the enlarged liver may occur in person who suffers from this serious disorder. Several other symptoms may happen, such as the person feeling sick all of a sudden, or having high temperature and excessive sweating. When some of these symptoms are noticed, the person must visit a doctor in order to treat the cancer.