Early symptoms of metastatic brain cancer

Metastatic liver cancer is a disease in which a primary malignant tumor originates in other parts of the body and metastasizes to the liver, forming a single or multiple cancer foci in the liver. In most patients, the clinical manifestations of the primary cancer precede the metastatic liver cancer, but in some patients, the origin of the primary lesion is unclear or tumors are found in two or more organs, including the liver, at the same time.

Clinical manifestations of metastatic liver cancer: Symptoms of liver metastasis are often atypical. When the metastatic lesions are small, there are usually no symptoms, and liver function is normal. The main manifestations are often symptoms caused by extrahepatic primary cancers. When the liver metastases are large, symptoms may include upper abdominal pain and discomfort, nodular masses in the liver area, weight loss, poor appetite, abdominal distension, fever, jaundice, and even ascites. Upper abdominal pain and discomfort are mostly caused by the rapid enlargement of the tumor, which increases the tension of the liver capsule or the tumor compresses the gastrointestinal tract. It manifests as persistent dull pain, tingling or distending pain related to body position, which worsens at night or after fatigue and cannot be relieved after rest. Sometimes upper abdominal pain can also be caused by rupture and bleeding of cancer nodules under the liver capsule, which manifests as sudden pain in the liver area that worsens during breathing and acute abdominal symptoms such as peritoneal irritation signs.

Nodules and masses in the liver area appear as masses under the xiphoid process or under the right ribs, which patients can often feel by themselves. Poor appetite is often caused by primary cancer or liver damage, or tumor compression of the gastrointestinal tract. Abdominal distension is often caused by huge tumor size, ascites, and liver dysfunction. Fatigue and weight loss are related to the metabolic products of malignant tumors and low food intake. In severe cases, cachexia occurs. Jaundice is mostly a manifestation of the very late stage, but it can also be caused by bile duct cancer thrombus. In addition to tumor compression of the bile duct in late stage tumors, hepatocellular jaundice can also occur due to excessive destruction of liver cells.

In the early stage, the main symptoms are those of the primary lesion. As the disease progresses, the tumor grows larger, and the patient experiences symptoms such as liver pain, discomfort, fatigue, weight loss, fever, loss of appetite, and upper abdominal mass. Other symptoms include obvious symptoms of liver metastasis in a small number of patients, while the primary lesion is not obvious.