Liver Cancer Overview
Liver Cancer at a Glance
Liver cancer either begins in the liver or spreads from other parts of your body. The main type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, usually occurs in livers undergoing damage due to alcohol abuse, birth defects, or chronic infection.
Today, live cancer is one of the world's most common cancers and the fastest-growing cause of cancer-related death.
Liver Cancer Cause
Here's a list of behaviors and conditions which may boost the risk of contracting liver cancer:
- Overweight or obesity
- A long-term hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus infection
- Smoking cigarettes
- Drinking alcohol
- Having cirrhosis
- Having nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- Having diabetes or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Having hemochromatosis, when the body absorbs and stores more iron than it needs
- Consuming foods which have aflatoxin
Liver Cancer Signs & Symptoms
The most common symptoms of liver cancer may include:
- Nausea or vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Unintended weight loss
- Itching
- Feeling very full after a little meal
- Pain in the abdomen or near the right shoulder blade
- An expanded liver, felt as fullness below the ribs on your right side
- An expanded spleen, felt as fullness below the ribs on your left side
- Swelling or fluid build-up in the belly
- Yellowing of the eyes and skin
Additional symptoms are fever, abnormal bleeding or bruising, and enlarged veins on your belly which are visible through the skin.
