How is liver cancer induced? The four major causes of liver cancer

1. Smoking and drinking

Smoking and drinking do not directly cause cancer, but they increase the risk of cancer. They can promote the carcinogenic effect of carcinogens and inhibit the function of the immune system. In addition, alcohol can stimulate the secretion of the pituitary gland, accelerate the rate of cell division, and increase the susceptibility of cancer.

2. Decline of human immune function

This is why liver cancer is more common in middle-aged and elderly people. After middle age, the thymus gradually shrinks, and the cellular immune function closely related to thymus endocrine gradually weakens. The human body cannot effectively reject abnormal cells, and cancer takes the opportunity to germinate.

Most liver cancers occur most frequently after the age of 40, with the high-risk age group being between 50 and 60 years old.

3. Bad eating habits

Many diseases are actually caused by eating, and liver cancer is no exception. Long-term consumption of moldy food, food containing nitrite, and lack of trace element selenium in food are also important factors that promote liver cancer.

Aflatoxin in moldy food is the main factor inducing cancer. Aflatoxin is the only substance that has been clearly proven to be carcinogenic. It is also one of the auxiliary causes of liver cancer.

Nitrite exists in many foods in nature. The average nitrite content in vegetables is about 4 mg/kg, and beans are even higher, reaching 10 mg/kg. Nitrite salts will not accumulate in the body, they can be excreted through urine, and nitrite in daily diet will not cause harm to the human body.

A large amount of nitrite can cause great harm to the human body. It can be converted into nitrosamines, which are substances with clear carcinogenic effects.

4. Liver disease

Epidemiological statistics show that areas where hepatitis B is prevalent are often also areas with a high incidence of liver cancer. People who have had hepatitis B are indeed more likely to develop liver cancer than those who have not had hepatitis B. The risk is as high as 10.7 times.

Some scholars believe that the way in which hepatitis B virus causes liver cancer is that the hepatitis B virus first causes hepatitis, which in turn leads to cirrhosis, causing atypical proliferation of liver cells, and then developing into liver cancer; some other scholars believe that chronic hepatitis can directly lead to the occurrence of liver cancer without going through the cirrhosis stage.

But there is one thing that they agree on among their different opinions, namely, hepatitis B virus may be the main initiating factor among the many factors that cause human liver cancer.