Why is the survival time of liver cancer short?

Liver cancer is the third most common malignant tumor with a mortality rate second only to gastric cancer and esophageal cancer. The early symptoms of liver cancer are not obvious, and the late stage mainly manifests as liver pain, fatigue, weight loss, jaundice, ascites, etc. Clinically, Western medicine surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine are generally used for treatment, but the cure rate of patients in the late stage is low due to the spread of cancer cells. Therefore, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment of liver cancer are necessary.

The onset of liver cancer is often hidden. Liver cancer is often discovered accidentally during follow-up of liver disease or physical examination using AFP and B-ultrasound examination. At this time, the patient has no symptoms and the physical examination lacks signs of the tumor itself. This stage is called the subclinical stage. Once liver cancer symptoms appear, the course of the disease has mostly entered the middle and late stages. In the middle and late stages, Western medicine surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine are generally used for clinical treatment. The clinical manifestations of liver cancer at different stages are significantly different.

The natural course of liver cancer can be divided into four stages: First, the early subclinical stage. It takes about 10 months from the generation of precancerous cells to the diagnosis of subclinical liver cancer. There are no symptoms and it is difficult to detect by imaging. Second, the subclinical stage. It usually takes about 10 months from subclinical liver cancer to the onset of symptoms. It is often found by imaging. At this time, if it can be diagnosed early and surgically removed, the 5-year survival rate can reach 60%-70%. Third, the middle stage. It takes about 4 months from the onset of symptoms to jaundice, ascites or distant metastasis. Fourth, the late stage. It takes about two months from the onset of jaundice, ascites or distant metastasis to death. The total course of liver cancer is about two and a half years, of which two years are in the early stage without symptoms. Once symptoms appear, most patients only have a survival time of half a year.

About 80% of liver cancer patients are already in the late stage when they are discovered. They have typical symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, ascites, pain in the liver area, and a mass in the right upper abdomen. Most of these patients survive within half a year, so people are very scared when they mention liver cancer. It takes about a year for liver cancer to develop from early stage cancer to typical subjective symptoms, but liver cancer at this stage rarely has symptoms and has no impact on the patient's health and daily life, so it is difficult to detect in the early stage, which is the best stage for treatment.

It is not very difficult to detect liver cancer in its early stages. Regular checkups are an effective way to detect it early. Patients with chronic hepatitis or hepatitis B virus carriers are at high risk of liver cancer. It is recommended that these people go to the hospital for a checkup every three months or six months. Through B-ultrasound and liver cancer marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) examinations, most cancer patients can be detected in the early stages, achieving the goal of early detection and early cure.

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