In liver cancer, abnormal cells can be found on the liver.
The liver is the largest internal organ of the body. The organ is located on the right side of the abdomen, just below the ribs. The liver has many functions: it filters waste products and other harmful substances from the blood, produces enzymes and gal, which play a role in digestion, and the liver produces chemicals and hormones needed to regulate many bodily functions. The medical name for liver cells is hepatocytes.
Two types of liver cancer are distinguished: primary (the cancer starts from the liver) and secondary (the liver cancer is a metastasis of cancer elsewhere in the body). Liver cell carcinoma is the most common form of primary liver cancer. This form of the disease develops in the liver cells and causes damage to, among other things, healthy liver cells. The continued growth of cancer-affected liver cells can lead to malignant tumors.
In the early stages of liver cancer, not many symptoms are noticeable. The disease is therefore difficult to detect. As the cancer progresses, symptoms appear, such as abdominal pain and bloating, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and jaundice.
Medical science does not yet know exactly what causes liver cancer. It is known that chronic liver infections (such as viral hepatitis B or C) and liver cirrhosis increase the risk of liver cancer. There are more male than female liver cancer patients, and the disease is most common in people over the age of 60.
Liver cancer can be treated in several ways, depending on the type and stage of the cancer. Surgical treatment or liver transplant is only possible if the tumor is small and completely contained in the liver organ. If the tumor is large, or has spread beyond the liver, chemotherapy or radiation therapy can relieve symptoms and prolong the patient’s life, but these treatments offer no prospect of a cure.
