What are the early symptoms of liver cancer? Where is the most common metastatic site of liver cancer?

Liver cancer is a malignant tumor that occurs in the liver. Clinically, liver cancer can be divided into two types: primary liver cancer and secondary liver cancer. Primary liver cancer originates from the epithelial and mesenchymal tissues of the liver. Secondary liver cancer mainly refers to malignant tumors originating from multiple organs throughout the body that invade the liver. Liver cancer is highly malignant. When the cancer reaches the late stage, it can easily threaten the patient's life. It needs to be treated in time when the early symptoms of liver cancer appear to improve the patient's survival rate. Next, Hu Meng, the attending physician of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, will introduce to us in detail the early symptoms of liver cancer.

What are the early symptoms of liver cancer?

The early symptoms of liver cancer are digestive tract symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. Therefore, for patients with chronic liver disease, if they have symptoms such as fatigue and loss of appetite, they must not be careless, as they may be early warning signs of liver cancer. They must go to the hospital regularly to complete relevant liver color Doppler ultrasound and other imaging examinations.

Where is the most common site of liver cancer metastasis?

The most common sites of liver cancer metastasis are the portal vein, adrenal glands, lungs and bones, mainly due to the high malignancy, rapid progression and short survival of liver cancer. For patients diagnosed with primary liver cancer, in addition to regular liver ultrasound, CT and MRI examinations, regular examinations of the adrenal glands, lungs and bones are also required to rule out extrahepatic metastasis of the tumor.

How long can you live when liver cancer metastasizes to the lungs?

When liver cancer metastasizes to the lungs, patients generally do not live long. Lung metastasis is a common metastasis pathway for liver cancer patients. After liver cancer metastasizes to the lungs, the tumor spreads quickly in the lungs. Tumors in the lungs can cause lung infections and can easily lead to respiratory failure. Patients are advised to actively use new tumor treatment drugs such as targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors to control their condition.

When liver cancer metastasizes to the lungs, the patient will have obvious symptoms of coughing, expectoration, chest tightness, and even coughing up blood. If not treated in time, the patient's survival rate will be greatly reduced. Liver cancer lung metastasis means that the disease has developed to the late stage. At this time, the most common clinical treatment method is palliative symptomatic treatment. If the patient is in good physical condition, auxiliary radiotherapy and chemotherapy can also be performed. If the patient does not undergo surgical treatment, interventional treatment or intravenous chemotherapy can be considered when lung metastasis is found at the same time as the liver tumor, and further puncture can be performed to clarify the pathological nature and classification of the tumor.