Advice on how to prevent liver cancer
There are around 17 new cases of liver cancer every day, according to Cancer Research UK. Unfortunately, this shocking statistic isn’t helped by the fact that the deadly condition is often reluctant to show symptoms, or the signs might be hard to spot. An unfortunate case of a 52-year-old woman, who died from this cancer, illustrates the warning signs that can appear.
The woman was admitted to a hospital in May 2005, following a slew of uncomfortable symptoms, according to a case report, published in the journal The Eurasian Journal of Medicine.
The 52-year-old had a series of stomach-related problems, ranging from abdominal discomfort to bloating and nausea after eating.
Her symptoms had been progressing for a while which resulted in a weight loss of 12 kilograms within the past 45 days.
The patient’s skin also rang alarm bells by spurring on symptoms like itchiness and jaundice, which describes yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.
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“The patient denied previous use of alcohol or tobacco and had no history of drug use of blood transfusion,” the case report noted.
During her hospitalisation, tests revealed she had ascites, which details a condition in which fluid collects in the spaces within your abdomen.
Her bilirubin levels were also found to be elevated. This can occur when something is stressing your liver, such as a new medicine or even a tumour.
Consequently, high levels of bilirubin can lead to jaundice, which is considered one of the tell-tale signs of liver cancer.
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The case report explains that this warning sign is present in around 19 to 40 percent of patients with liver cancer.
Unfortunately, further tests revealed that this was also the 52-year-old’s diagnosis.
From yellow skin to swollen tummy, symptoms like the woman experienced detail some of the key warning signs of liver cancer.
According to the NHS, symptoms to spot can include:
- Skin or the whites of your eyes turning yellow (you may also have itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual)
- Loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
- Feeling tired or having no energy
- Feeling generally unwell or having symptoms like flu
- Lump in the right side of your tummy
- Feeling or being sick
- Pain at the top right side of your tummy or in your right shoulder
- Symptoms of indigestion (such as feeling full very quickly when eating)
- A very swollen tummy that is not related to when you eat.
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Despite these symptoms being considered some of the key signs of liver cancer, they can be very “common”, Lisa Jacques, Cancer Nurse at Perci Health explained.
The nurse said: “These symptoms can be caused by conditions that are not cancer.
“So having these symptoms does not mean you definitely have liver cancer.
“It is important to speak to your GP about these symptoms, or any other symptoms that you are concerned about.
“If they are caused by cancer, detecting cancer earlier means it is more treatable.”
The NHS also recommends getting any symptoms of liver cancer checked “as soon as possible”.
Sadly, the woman’s tumour was deemed inoperable by the doctors and she died in the hospital.
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