What are the symptoms of liver cancer? Eight typical symptoms of liver cancer

The most common symptoms are intermittent and persistent dull pain or distending pain. The rapid growth of the cancer causes the liver capsule to tighten. The tumor invades the diaphragm and causes pain that can radiate to the right shoulder or right back. The tumor growing to the right back can cause right waist pain. The sudden onset of severe abdominal pain and peritoneal irritation signs indicate that the cancer nodule is bleeding under the capsule or rupturing into the abdominal cavity. The early symptoms of liver cancer are relatively obvious, which is clearly different from most other cancers. Therefore, it has advantages. If you have a good understanding of the symptoms and conduct self-examination in time, it is not difficult to detect early liver cancer. However, the disadvantage is that it is atypical and easy to be ignored. The following is a specific introduction to the symptoms of liver cancer: Symptoms of liver cancer: Early symptoms: The early manifestations of liver cancer are very atypical and often easy to be ignored. The following symptoms are for reference: 1. Significant loss of appetite: abdominal distension, indigestion, sometimes nausea and vomiting; 2. Pain in the right upper abdomen: persistent or intermittent pain in the liver area, sometimes aggravated by changes in body position; 3. Fatigue, weight loss, unexplained fever and edema; 4. Jaundice, ascites, skin itching; 5. Frequently manifested as nose bleeding, subcutaneous bleeding, etc. Symptoms in the middle and late stages: Typical symptoms and signs of liver cancer generally appear in the middle and late stages, mainly liver pain, fatigue, weight loss, jaundice, ascites, etc. 1. Pain in the liver area: The most common is intermittent and persistent dull pain or distending pain, which is caused by the rapid growth of the cancer, which tightens the liver capsule and causes the tumor to invade the diaphragm. Pain can radiate to the right shoulder or right back; tumors growing to the right back can cause right waist pain; sudden severe abdominal pain and peritoneal irritation signs indicate that the cancer nodule is bleeding under the capsule or rupturing into the abdominal cavity. 2. Digestive tract symptoms: decreased appetite, indigestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are easily overlooked due to lack of specificity. 3. Fatigue, weight loss and general weakness. A few patients may present cachexia in the late stage. 4. Fever: generally low fever, occasionally reaching above 39°C, with continuous fever or low fever in the afternoon or high fever of the remittent type. Fever is related to the absorption of necrotic products of cancer. Compression or invasion of the bile duct by the cancer may lead to biliary infection. 5. Symptoms of metastatic lesions: corresponding symptoms occur at the place where the tumor metastasizes, which sometimes become the initial symptoms of liver cancer. Metastasis to the lungs may cause coughing and hemoptysis; pleural metastasis may cause chest pain and bloody pleural effusion; embolism to the pulmonary artery or branches may cause pulmonary infarction, which may cause sudden severe dyspnea and chest pain; blockage of the inferior vena cava by cancer thrombus may cause severe edema of the lower limbs and even a drop in blood pressure; blockage of the hepatic vein may cause Budd-Chiari syndrome and edema of the lower limbs; metastasis to the bones may cause local pain or pathological fractures; metastasis to the spine or compression of the spinal nerves may cause local pain and paraplegia; intracranial metastasis may cause corresponding localization symptoms and signs, such as intracranial hypertension, which may lead to brain herniation and sudden death. 6. Other systemic symptoms: Endocrine or metabolic syndromes caused by abnormal metabolism of the tumor itself or various effects of cancer tissue on the body are called paraneoplastic syndromes, which may sometimes precede the symptoms of liver cancer itself. Common ones include: ⑴ Spontaneous hypoglycemia: 10-30% of patients may experience this condition due to the ectopic secretion of insulin or insulin-like substances by liver cells, or the inhibition of insulinase by tumors, or the secretion of a pancreatic β-cell stimulating factor, or excessive glycogen storage; it may also be caused by excessive glucose consumption by liver cancer tissue. In severe cases, coma, shock and death may occur. Correct judgment and timely symptomatic treatment can save patients from death. ⑵ Polycythemia: 2-10% of patients may experience related symptoms that may be caused by increased erythropoietin in the circulation. ⑶ Other rare conditions include hyperlipidemia, hypercalcemia carcinoid syndrome, early sex and gonadotropin secretion syndrome, cutaneous porphyria and abnormal fibrinogenemia, which may be related to abnormal protein synthesis, ectopic endocrine and porphyrin metabolism disorders in liver cancer tissue. 7. Paraneoplastic syndrome: The syndrome of endocrine or metabolic abnormalities caused by abnormal metabolism of the tumor itself, which in turn affects the body, is called paraneoplastic syndrome. Hypoglycemia and polycythemia are more common, and other rare symptoms include hyperlipidemia, hypercalcemia, precocious puberty, gonadotropin secretion syndrome, carcinoid syndrome, etc. 8. Signs of liver cancer - jaundice. Jaundice is a common sign of middle and late stage liver cancer. Diffuse liver cancer and cholangiocarcinoma are most likely to cause jaundice. Jaundice is mostly caused by compression of the bile duct or invasion of the bile duct by cancer, which leads to bile duct obstruction. It can also be caused by compression of the bile duct by enlarged lymph nodes metastasized from the liver portal. In a few cases, the liver cancer tissue grows into the bile duct, and the mass blocks the bile duct, causing obstructive jaundice. As the disease progresses, its typical symptoms will gradually manifest, but generally speaking, the best treatment time has been lost. There are two suggestions in this regard. One is that the elderly should have regular physical examinations, and the other is that in old age, if similar symptoms occur, they should not be ignored as signs of liver cancer.