These 5 symptoms are actually precursors to liver cancer? The 5th one you will never expect

The incidence of liver cancer has been on the rise in recent years. In my country, the incidence of liver cancer is second only to lung cancer and is the second largest cancer. The early symptoms of liver cancer are not obvious and are therefore easily overlooked. If the following symptoms occur, you should be alert to the possibility of liver cancer.

1. Weight loss and fatigue

This symptom often occurs in the middle and late stages of liver cancer, and may be caused by tumor metabolites causing changes in the body's biochemical metabolism. Food intake decreases, and cachexia occurs in severe cases.

2. Fever

The fever caused by liver cancer is generally around 37.5'C~38℃, occasionally reaching above 39℃, with irregular fever patterns. It is usually not accompanied by chills, and afternoon fever is more common. Sometimes remittent high fever can also be seen. Fever can be caused by tumor necrosis or its metabolites.

3. Digestive tract symptoms

Common symptoms include decreased appetite, upper abdominal distension after meals, or even nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

4. Pain

This is a common symptom in patients with liver cancer. The pain is usually located in the liver area. In patients with mid- to late-stage liver cancer, the pain is usually located in the right ribs or under the xiphoid process. The nature of the pain is mostly persistent dull pain, or stabbing pain. In a small number of patients, the pain may show special manifestations. Patients with liver cancer may also experience referred pain in other parts of the body. Some patients have pain in the upper and middle abdomen, which is mostly caused by left lobe liver cancer. However, it is sometimes misdiagnosed as a stomach disease and treatment is delayed. Some patients may experience right shoulder pain.

Clinically, it is more common in tumors near the diaphragm of the right lobe, which can cause referred pain in the right shoulder due to the involvement of the diaphragm. At this time, it is easy to be misdiagnosed as frozen shoulder. Metastatic symptoms will appear when liver cancer metastasizes to other parts of the body, and chest pain may occur when it metastasizes to the lungs. Bone pain may occur when it metastasizes to the bones, so when liver cancer patients experience chest pain or bone pain, it should be considered that it is caused by liver cancer metastasis.

Clinically, a small number of patients may experience sudden severe pain in the liver area. This is mostly caused by the rupture and bleeding of cancerous nodules on the surface of the liver. If the patient also has symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, palpitations, and decreased blood pressure, it mostly indicates that the cancerous nodules have ruptured and are complicated by severe internal bleeding. If this happens, emergency rescue should be carried out in time.

5. Other symptoms

Patients with hepatitis, cirrhosis or infiltrative tumor growth that leads to liver decompensation may have a tendency to bleed, such as nose bleeding, gum and subcutaneous ecchymosis, etc.; they may also have hypoproteinemia, leading to edema, ascites, abdominal distension, etc.