The liver is the largest organ inside your body, located beneath the right lung and rib cage. One of the essential functions of the liver is blood purification. Purification is done to get rid of toxins and chemicals in the blood to process nutrients and provide energy for the body. The liver also creates bile fluid needed for digestion. To surmise, liver function is crucial for survival.
Primary liver cancer is one of the common types of liver cancer in which the cells inside the liver grow out of control.
Causes of liver cancer
One of the risk factors that increase the chances of primary liver cancer is liver cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is a severe condition that leads to the formation of scar tissue inside the organ.
Other causes of liver damage can be linked to the following issues
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heavy alcohol consumption and smoking
- Obesity
- Exposure to arsenic through water-based toxins
- Exposure to aflatoxins
- Certain hereditary factors
Signs and symptoms of liver cancer
Unexplained weight loss, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, a bulky mass under the ribs, problems in the abdomen, and jaundice are the noticeable symptoms.
Staging of liver cancer
For evaluating effective treatment options, liver cancer staging is the next crucial step taken by doctors. One of the popular methods for staging is the TNM system, approved by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. The system is based on identifying information related to the following observations.
- Tumor size
- Spread of the tumor to nearby lymph nodes
- Extent of metastasis causing cancer to spread to other organs
Staging allows doctors to identify the four known categories of liver cancer:
- Stage I Includes the assessment of a single tumor cancer and the extent of its spread to nearby lymph nodes. In most cases, the tumor is still in the liver and has not spread outside
- Stage II is the assessment of several small tumors and whether these cancerous cells have reached blood vessels, allowing them to spread to other parts through the circulatory system
- Stage III is an advanced stage in which a larger tumor has reached the blood vessels and might also affect the gallbladder
- Stage IV is when cancer has achieved metastasis, i.e., the cancerous cells have already spread to other parts of the body
Treatment options
Radiofrequency ablation
The use of heat therapy to destroy cancerous cells through the skin or by way of surgery.
Percutaneous ethanol injection
In this treatment, alcohol is directly injected into the liver tumor to destroy the cancerous cells. This option is effective only for tumors that are less than 3 cm in size.
Radiation therapy
This procedure involves the use of high-energy radiation to destroy the cancerous cells.
Chemoembolization, radioembolization, targeted therapy, and chemotherapy involve the use of very strong medications to destroy the cancerous cells and stop them from spreading. These medications are injected into the arteries, leading to the tumor, to work effectively from the inside.
Common surgical procedures include partial hepatectomy, i.e., part of the liver where the tumor has spread is removed, and liver transplant for early-stage liver cancer only.
