Is liver cancer hereditary? What is the cause of liver cancer?

Liver cancer is a serious disease that may occur in life. As we all know, when a disease is crowned with the title of cancer, there are many problems that deserve attention. Severe cases may even threaten the patient's life. So, if your father has liver cancer, will it be inherited? The following experts give the following introduction.

Is liver cancer hereditary?

The most obvious clinical feature of genetic susceptibility to liver cancer is family history, that is, if there are multiple liver cancer patients in several generations of the same family, the family's chance of suffering from liver cancer is higher than that of ordinary families. Many research results have shown the existence of genetic factors in the occurrence of liver cancer. With the increase in the number of liver cancer patients in the family and the younger age of onset, the genetic susceptibility to liver cancer also increases. In families with a high incidence of liver cancer, first-degree relatives are the high-risk group for liver cancer.

90% of liver cancer is caused by external factors, and there are also genetic factors, but the proportion is smaller. It is generally believed that if the father has liver cancer, if the father develops hepatitis, and if the children also have hepatitis, then the risk of liver cancer will increase sharply. However, if there is no such hepatitis disease in the family, as long as the children pay attention to their daily life, control their diet reasonably and live a regular and healthy life, the risk of liver cancer is very low. Therefore, it does not mean that if the father has liver cancer, the children will also have liver cancer.

What are the causes of liver cancer?

1. Chronic liver disease: viral hepatitis in particular is closely related to the onset of liver cancer and is called the "catalyst" of liver cancer by the medical community. Hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) are the most important. Data show that more than 30% of liver cancer patients have a history of chronic hepatitis, and more than half of them are positive for Australia antibody (HbsAg). Therefore, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus are regarded as one of the cancer-promoting factors, which is the cause of liver cancer.

2. Long-term consumption of pickled, fried, smoked and grilled foods can also induce liver cancer: nitrosamines contained in pickled foods and 3,4-benzopyrene contained in fried and smoked foods can induce cancer, so everyone should try to reduce the consumption of pickled, fried, smoked and grilled foods such as pickled meat, grilled meat, grilled sausages, salted fish, pickles, etc. 3. Cirrhosis: Medical observations have found that about 50% to 90% of liver cancer patients have varying degrees of liver cirrhosis, so liver cirrhosis is also considered a cancer-promoting factor. Therefore, patients with liver cirrhosis should do regular checkups to prevent the occurrence of liver cancer.

4. Eating spoiled food can also induce liver cancer: Studies have found that moldy food will produce a toxic metabolite - aflatoxin in its mold, and aflatoxin is the strongest biological carcinogen discovered today. Therefore, people should avoid eating moldy foods such as moldy peanuts, corn, rice, dried potatoes, dried radishes, dairy products, soy products, etc.

5. Water pollution: Severe pollution of drinking water is one of the important causes of liver cancer, especially polluted ditch water, followed by river water, and well water is the lowest. Therefore, in villages without tap water facilities, drinking well water should be encouraged.

6. Immune status: Some people believe that the plasma of liver cancer patients contains a blocking factor that can inhibit cellular immunity and protect liver cancer cells from being killed by immune cells. It has been proven that alpha-fetoprotein (AFp) can inhibit the phagocytosis of lymphocytes and macrophages.