The liver is an organ that helps the intestines absorb nutrients, and stores nutrients the body needs to function properly, according to the American Cancer Society. It also helps to remove wastes from the body and helps make clotting factors that help stop excessive bleeding. When malignant cells start forming in the liver, liver cancer can arise.
Significance
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that in 2009, approximately 22,620 new diagnoses of liver cancer occurred in the United States, and nearly 18,160 individuals died of the disease. Men are more likely to have the disease than women, with the risk being close to 1 in 100 for men, and 1 in 217 for women. More than 90 percent of liver cancer diagnoses are made in individuals over the age of 45, according to the ACS, and the average age at diagnosis is 64 years old.
Signs and Symptoms
Despite the fact that symptoms of liver cancer do not typically appear until later stages of the disease, there can be early signs of cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) lists symptoms of liver cancer as including: losing weight unintentionally, jaundice, unexplained fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, a lump below the right side of the rib cage and discomfort or pain around the right shoulder blade or the upper right side of the abdomen. Other symptoms may include fluid buildup in the abdomen, itching and veins on the stomach that become visible through the skin, according to the ACS.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing liver cancer is typically done through a variety of tests and procedures. A physical exam and health history are performed and blood tests may be run, including a complete blood count (CBC) and serum tumor marker tests; CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds are performed; and a biopsy may be performed to remove questionable cells from the liver to check for cancer under a microscope.
Treatment
According to the NCI, there are four standard kinds of treatment used to treat liver cancer: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and percutaneous ethanol injection. Surgery is used to remove the tumor, part of the liver, or the entire liver, depending on the extent of disease. Radiation therapy involves high energy X-rays aimed toward the cancer or radioactive seeds implanted in the cancerous area to kill cancer cells; and chemotherapy uses drugs to slow the growth of cancer cells and kill them. Percutaneous ethanol injection is described by the NCI as injecting ethanol, or alcohol, into a tumor in order to destroy cancer cells.
Risk Factors
Risk factors for liver cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic, include chronic infections with hepatitis B or C, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, obesity, drinking alcohol excessively and fatty liver disease that is not associated with alcoholism. Other factors that may increase your risk include being male and being of an older age.
