How can liver cancer be treated to avoid worsening? What are the complications of liver cancer if it is not treated?

Many people are familiar with liver cancer. The occurrence of liver cancer makes many patients afraid. The occurrence of liver cancer requires timely treatment so as not to miss the best treatment time and make the condition more serious. So what complications will liver cancer cause if it is not treated? How to treat it? Let's take a look!

Complications of liver cancer

1. Hepatic encephalopathy

It is often a terminal complication, accounting for 34.9% of the causes of death.

2. Gastrointestinal bleeding

It accounts for 15.1% of the causes of death. Patients with liver cirrhosis or portal vein or hepatic vein cancer thrombosis may suffer from esophageal or gastric fundus varicose vein rupture and bleeding due to portal hypertension. Bleeding may also occur due to gastrointestinal mucosal erosion, coagulation disorder, etc.

3. Rupture and bleeding of liver cancer nodules

The incidence rate is about 9-14%. Necrosis and liquefaction of liver cancer tissue can cause spontaneous rupture or rupture due to external force. If it is confined to the subcapsular membrane, there may be sudden pain and rapid enlargement of the liver. If it ruptures into the abdominal cavity, it will cause acute abdominal pain and peritoneal irritation. In severe cases, it may cause hemorrhagic shock or death. In mild cases, bleeding stops after a few days and the pain gradually subsides.

4. Bloody pleural effusion and ascites

Diaphragmatic liver cancer can directly infiltrate or metastasize through the bloodstream or lymph nodes to cause bloody pleural effusion, which is common on the right side.

5. Secondary infection

Due to the long-term consumption of cancer, the resistance is weakened, especially those with a decrease in white blood cells after radiation and chemotherapy, which makes them prone to various infections such as pneumonia, intestinal infection, fungal infection, etc.

It can be seen from this that if liver cancer is not treated in time, it will cause more complications. If you want to stay away from these complications, you must go to a regular hospital for comprehensive examination and treatment when you discover the cancer. Only then can the disease be effectively controlled and will not develop further and become more serious.

Diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer

1. Alpha-fetoprotein determination

This diagnostic method uses immunoassays to measure the production of embryonic antigens and is currently one of the most effective methods for diagnosing this disease specifically.

2. Ultrasound examination

Ultrasound examination is currently a better method for diagnosing this disease. Its advantage is that it can be detected without invasion. It can accurately show the size and shape of the tumor and the presence of cancer thrombus in the hepatic vein and portal vein, with a diagnosis rate of up to 84%. It can also detect lesions with a diameter of less than 2 cm.

3. CT examination

This method of diagnosing liver cancer has the characteristics of high resolution and can detect patients with early liver cancer with a diameter of about 1 cm. Enhanced scanning can help identify hemangiomas.

4. Treatment of liver cancer

For small liver cancer tumors <3 cm, surgical resection is the main treatment. For patients with severe liver cirrhosis, local drug injection can be performed under the guidance of B-ultrasound. Generally, anhydrous ethanol is injected into the tumor. After surgical resection of small liver cancer, due to the high recurrence rate, traditional Chinese medicine, immune drugs or chemotherapy should be given after surgery.