What are the characteristics of liver enlargement caused by liver cancer

Typical symptoms of liver cancer include pain, jaundice, abdominal distension and liver enlargement. Liver enlargement can be caused by other reasons besides liver tumors. Therefore, to determine whether liver enlargement is caused by liver cancer, one should know the characteristics of liver enlargement caused by liver cancer.

Primary liver cancer often manifests as a mass under the right upper ribs or under the xiphoid process. The mass feels hard, like a stone. Sometimes you can feel uneven nodules on the surface of the liver, and the shape of the liver edge is irregular. If you do an ultrasound, you will find nodules in the liver that are different from the surrounding liver parenchyma, which may be low-echo, uneven-echo, or high-echo. If you do a CT scan, you can also find low-density nodules in the liver that are different from the surrounding liver parenchyma.

Liver enlargement caused by liver cancer is mostly seen in the late stage of liver cancer. Because the liver is in the abdominal cavity, liver cancer nodules are sometimes not able to be felt. Therefore, the presence of liver cancer cannot be ruled out even if the liver is not enlarged. Ultrasound or CT examinations can be used to detect lumps inside the liver.

When the liver is enlarged, a tumor marker test is needed. More importantly, an imaging test of the liver is needed, such as ultrasound, CT or MRI, which can mostly detect liver cancer and distinguish it from liver enlargement caused by other reasons.