What is liver cancer?
Liver cancer is a type of cancer developed in the cells of your liver. The liver is a football sized organ that sits on top of your stomach right below the diaphragm. The main cell in your liver is called the hepatocyte which is where the most common type of cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, begins. In many cases though this is not where the cancer begins. More commonly cancer will start in another location and spread to the liver, this is called metastatic cancer. When referring to it you typically use the organ in which the cancer began. For example if it began in your stomach you would refer to it as Metastatic Gastric Cancer. It’s important to keep yourself educated on this illness as more than 800,000 people are diagnosed with it each year.
Symptoms of liver cancer
● Losing weight without meaning too
● Loss of appetite
● Weakness or Fatigue in daily life
● Discoloration of skin or sclera
● Swelling or lumps in your stomach
In the early stages Liver cancer typically has minimal noticeable symptoms. These
symptoms are not exclusive to liver cancer, but are common amongst many other conditions too so when experiencing any it’s best to see your doctor, as diagnosing it early in some cases make the cancer easier to treat.
Risk factors
● Gender: Liver cancer is most commonly found in men
● Ethnicity: Asian Americans and Pacific Islander have the highest rates of liver cancer in the US
● Chronic Viral Hepatitis: Individuals with this are most at risk as it is the leading cause of liver cancer
● Tobacco: Smoking increases chances of liver cancer
● Alcohol use: heavy drinking increases risk of developing liver cancer
● Diabetes: Individuals with blood sugar disorders are at greater risk of developing liver cancer.
While in many cases individuals who have nothing to do with the above factors have developed liver cancer it’s best to stay away from tobacco use and alcohol to keep yourself less at risk of developing liver cancer. Another preventative measure is to get vaccinated against hepatitis B.
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