How to check for early liver cancer

There are many ways to check for liver cancer, including the alpha-fetoprotein test to see if there are tumor markers. Alpha-fetoprotein has a certain sensitivity for the test, but we have also found clinically that some patients' alpha-fetoprotein levels may not be high. The alpha-fetoprotein levels of liver cancer patients may be high, but patients with low alpha-fetoprotein levels cannot completely rule out the possibility of liver cancer.

The second is ultrasound examination, which is also a means of diagnosing liver cancer. The characteristics of ultrasound are that it is relatively easy to operate, the cost is relatively low, and the detection rate of liver lesions is also relatively high.

The third one is CT. CT is a very important means of examining liver cancer and is used quite frequently across the country.

The fourth is MRI, which has developed rapidly in recent years. In the past, MRI was not as ideal as CT scan. Now, with the continuous development of MRI technology, the scanning time is getting faster and faster, and the resolution is getting higher and higher. It can also make a relatively accurate judgment for some small lesions in the liver. Now MRI also plays a very important role in the examination of liver cancer.

The fifth is isotope examination. Currently, there is an advanced examination instrument called PETCT, which can make a more accurate diagnosis of liver cancer. PETCT is not as sensitive to liver cancer itself as the previous ones, but it is very sensitive to metastatic cancer. We found that some liver cancer patients may have metastasis, lymph node metastasis, metastasis to other organs, and bone metastasis. At this time, PETCT is a very good examination method, which can detect metastatic lesions and is very sensitive. Whether you judge whether the tumor has metastasized directly affects your choice of treatment plan. The treatment methods for metastasis and non-metastasis are actually completely different.

Sixth, angiography, although it is highly accurate in diagnosing liver cancer, is invasive. First, an incision must be made in the femoral artery, and a tube must be inserted into the femoral artery and all the way to the hepatic artery to visualize the tumor blood vessels. Hepatic artery angiography is not the first choice because it is invasive. Now it is more commonly used as a treatment, which is what we usually call interventional therapy. It is performed through the hepatic artery lesion, and anticancer drugs are directly injected into the tumor blood vessels through a catheter to achieve a therapeutic effect.