Liver Cancer Treatment

Liver Cancer

Liver cancer appropriately referred to as primary liver cancer is cancer resulting from cancerous cells in the liver. The liver serves to filter blood, create bile, to store and releasing sugars among other functions. Cancer from other organs can spread to the liver via blood circulation resulting in metastatic cancer. The liver is composed of many cells, which gives rise to different types of tumors, where some are noncancerous, and others are cancerous. The most common form of cancer from the liver is the hepatocellular carcinoma.

Signs and symptoms

• Swelling or pain in the abdomen
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting
• Yellowing of the eye whites' and the skin a condition known as jaundice
• Feeling tired and weak
• Fever
• White or chalky stools

Risk factors

• Cirrhosis: This condition causes scars to the liver hence increasing your chance of developing liver cancer.
• HBV or HCV: Chronic infection with hepatitis C Virus (HCV) or Hepatitis B virus increases the risk.
• Diabetes: People with diabetes have a high risk of contracting liver cancer than those without diabetes.
• Others include: Exposure to aflatoxins, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and some inherited liver conditions.

Treatment

Liver cancer if detected early is treatable, hence the need to visit a doctor regularly for diagnosis. The procedure adopted depends on the stage of the liver cancer.

Surgery

This involves the treatment of the liver cancer through surgical means. Unfortunately, many people do not qualify for surgery due to the existence of other liver conditions. In other cases, cancer from the liver easily spreads through the body due to the purification process of blood. Therefore, treating the liver through surgical means could lead to eliminating the problem partially to reoccur later. However, in the present times, surgical methods have improved, and survival rates have improved tremendously.

A surgical process will use a general anesthesia and follow-up medications.

What type of anesthesia will be given?

A surgical process will use general anesthesia

What are the possible common complications?

 Excessive bleeding, infection of the lung after surgery, Liver failure, Rejection of the liver by your body, the liver failing to work immediately necessitating another transplant, Loss of kidney function, Damage to the liver, Nausea, Fever, Fatigue, Pain, Loss of appetite, Mouth sores