Subscribe
Liver cancer
Will early-stage liver cancer cause weight loss?
For patients with early-stage liver cancer, symptoms of wasting do not occur at the onset. This is because wasting in liver cancer patients is due to insufficient albumin synthesis as the tumor causes a substantial consumption of protein, coupled with a decrease in appetite leading to inadequate intake of nutrients such as albumin, which ultimately results in wasting. This is a common clinical manifestation in patients with advanced liver cancer. However, for patients with early-stage liver cancer, the impairment of liver function is relatively minor; therefore, their synthesis of albumin is normal. Moreover, early-stage patients exhibit almost no clinical symptoms and their appetite remains normal, with no decrease in food intake. Thus, their intake of nutrients is also maintained at normal levels. Additionally, as the tumor is smaller in the early stages, the consumption of the body's nutrients is less. Considering these three factors, the overall protein consumption remains normal and not excessive, thus preventing the patients from experiencing wasting.
What's going on with the facial swelling in the late stage of liver cancer?
Patients with advanced liver cancer may experience facial swelling, which can be attributed to the following reasons: Firstly, patients with advanced liver cancer often show significant disease progression and may develop complications associated with hepatorenal syndrome. Clinically, this can manifest as reduced urine output, anuria, and even renal impairment, leading to facial swelling. Secondly, in patients with advanced liver cancer, there may be metastasis to cervical lymph nodes. Enlarged lymph nodes can compress or invade surrounding structures, leading to superior vena cava syndrome. Once this syndrome occurs, patients may experience swelling in the face and neck, and some may even face severe breathing difficulties. Lastly, some patients with advanced liver cancer may experience renal damage due to the toxic side effects of antitumor treatments or medications. Clinically, this can lead to increased levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, reduced urine output, and hypoproteinemia, which may also result in facial swelling.
Does early-stage liver cancer cause pain when pressed?
In the early stages of liver cancer, patients generally do not experience pain when pressing on the liver area. Pain in the liver area or a sensation of liver pain typically occurs in the middle or late stages of liver cancer and is a common manifestation. The main reasons for the pain are that the liver cancer lesions are large, causing an increase in liver volume, which leads to a tense pain in the liver capsule. Additionally, the invasion of liver cancer into the liver cells and surrounding tissues can cause pain. Another cause of pain may be abnormal hormone secretion triggered by the lesions, which then stimulates the pain perception centers, resulting in pain. For patients with early-stage liver cancer, the tumors are generally small and usually do not cause noticeable clinical symptoms. In many cases, patients may exhibit non-specific symptoms such as indigestion and mild fatigue. In contrast, patients with middle to late-stage liver cancer often exhibit more clinical manifestations due to the progression of the disease.
Is the right shoulder pain from liver cancer persistent?
For patients with liver cancer, if there is pain in the right shoulder, it is not necessarily continuous, which depends on the specific cause of the right shoulder pain. If the pain is caused by bone metastasis of liver cancer to the right shoulder, the pain is often severe and persistent. Bone is one of the more common sites of metastasis for liver cancer. For bone metastases of liver cancer, we can use imaging studies to detect clear bone destruction at the metastatic sites on X-rays, CT scans, and MRI. If the right shoulder pain in liver cancer patients is caused by other benign conditions, the pain may not necessarily be persistent. For instance, liver cancer patients may also experience shoulder pain due to other conditions such as rotator cuff injuries, periarthritis, or minor trauma, but this pain is not necessarily continuous.
Common symptoms of primary liver cancer
The initial symptoms of primary liver cancer are mostly pain in the liver area, which commonly presents as abdominal pain. Some patients may also experience bloating, fatigue, and weight loss as systemic symptoms. In advanced-stage liver cancer patients, there can be an enlargement of the liver, meaning a palpable enlarged mass can be felt in the abdomen. Other symptoms include jaundice and ascites, which can cause abdominal bloating. Upon physical examination, an obvious increase in abdominal girth and abdominal distension can be noted. Moreover, patients with advanced liver cancer may also suffer from complications such as upper gastrointestinal bleeding, rupture and bleeding of the liver cancer nodules, liver failure, and even hepatic encephalopathy, among others.
Can late-stage liver cancer be treated?
In the late stage of liver cancer, treatment depends on the specific circumstances. If there is significant ascites or severe liver function damage, treatment may primarily involve optimal supportive care. If the patient's liver function is relatively good, such as in hepatocellular carcinoma, targeted therapy may be an option. If the patient's overall condition allows, other treatment methods such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy may be considered. Furthermore, if the pathology is cholangiocarcinoma with jaundice as the main symptom, a stent can be placed externally in the biliary tract to drain bile and alleviate jaundice symptoms. If there is no portal vein thrombosis, no significant ascites, and multiple liver metastases are present, chemotherapy embolization of hepatic veins and various local ablation treatments can also be considered. Thus, the specific approach should take into account multiple factors such as the patient's constitution, overall condition, and the severity of liver function impairment.
What changes occur in the hair during the early stages of liver cancer?
Liver cancer is a common type of tumor in the digestive system in China, and patients with early-stage liver cancer generally do not experience significant changes in their hair. This is because the tumors in early-stage liver cancer patients are relatively small, and the treatment often involves surgical removal, which does not require chemotherapy or other anti-tumor treatments, so the impact on the patient's hair is minimal. As the disease progresses, some patients may need to undergo chemotherapy or other anti-tumor treatments, which can lead to hair loss or changes in hair color. However, hair changes after chemotherapy in liver cancer patients are generally reversible, and hair can regrow after the end of chemotherapy. Changes in hair color, on the other hand, are generally caused by pigment deposition induced by some chemotherapy drugs.
Late-stage liver cancer vomiting is what symptom?
Patients with advanced liver cancer have no signs before vomiting. If patients with advanced liver cancer experience vomiting, it is often accompanied by other symptoms. For example, some patients may experience diarrhea and body wasting due to loss of appetite, and the nature of the vomiting can vary. Some may vomit food, while others may vomit blood. If the vomit contains blood, it is urgent to consult a doctor promptly for targeted prevention and treatment.
How to effectively treat advanced liver cancer?
In the late stages of liver cancer, due to the spread of lesions, it is very easy to cause the failure of multiple organs such as the liver, heart, and kidneys, ultimately endangering the patient's life. Therefore, effective treatment methods must be adopted to delay the progression of the disease as much as possible. Currently, effective treatment methods include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, and some physical therapies. Commonly used clinical treatments include radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation. Radiotherapy is also a local treatment method, while targeted therapy and chemotherapy immunotherapy are systemic comprehensive treatments. Currently, the effects of targeted therapy for liver cancer are satisfactory, but the effects of chemotherapy and immunotherapy are poor. Most patients need these treatments combined to exert their effective anti-tumor treatment functions.
Is bleeding when brushing teeth an early sign of liver cancer?
When a patient has liver cancer, one symptom can be gingival bleeding. Because when a patient has liver cancer, some coagulation factors in the blood are affected, and the patient may frequently experience repeated dental bleeding. Therefore, it is suggested that patients should undergo early diagnostic tests and adopt specific treatment plans. However, repeated gingival bleeding in a patient does not necessarily indicate early-stage liver cancer, as some hematological diseases can also lead to repeated gingival bleeding, such as common thrombocytopenia and some patients with gingivitis. If long-term oral hygiene is neglected, the gingival tissue stays in a state of chronic inflammation, and acute inflammation can lead to bleeding while brushing teeth.