What are the early symptoms of liver cancer? The 7 most common early symptoms of liver cancer

A piece of news that "long-term cough is actually caused by liver cancer" has attracted people's attention. Is cough really an early symptom of liver cancer? "The most obvious symptoms of liver cancer are loss of appetite, yellow face, upper abdominal pain, bloating, etc." Coughing is not a common symptom of liver cancer. In reality, many people ignore the symptoms of liver cancer, which leads to delayed treatment. The following summarizes the most common symptoms of early liver cancer.

Symptom 1: Pain in the liver area

The vast majority of patients with advanced liver cancer present with pain in the liver area as the first symptom, with an incidence rate of over 50%. Pain in the liver area is generally located in the right ribs or under the xiphoid process, and the pain is intermittent or persistent. It is dull or stabbing. Before the pain, the patient may feel discomfort in the right upper abdomen, which may be mild or severe or relieve itself in the short term. The main cause of the pain is the rapid enlargement of the tumor, which compresses the liver capsule and produces pulling pain. It can also be caused by the necrosis of the tumor irritating the liver capsule.

A small number of patients experience severe pain in the liver area spontaneously or suddenly after liver puncture, which is mostly caused by ruptured and bleeding cancerous nodules on the surface of the liver. If accompanied by a drop in blood pressure and shock, and bloody fluid is found in abdominal puncture, it means that the cancerous nodules are severely ruptured and bleeding. In this case, emergency rescue is required. If there are no associated symptoms and the pain is more localized, it indicates that the bleeding is under the liver capsule. The pain may vary depending on the location of the tumor. Tumors located in the left lobe often cause pain in the upper and middle abdomen; tumors located in the right lobe cause pain in the right hypochondrium; when the tumor involves the diaphragm, the pain radiates to the right shoulder or right back, which can be easily mistaken for shoulder arthritis; when the tumor is located in the posterior segment of the right lobe, it can sometimes cause low back pain; patients with tumors located deep in the liver parenchyma generally rarely feel pain.

Symptom 2: Digestive tract symptoms

According to incomplete statistics, about 37% of liver disease patients mistakenly think they have "stomach disease" in the early stage of the disease, which leads to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Decreased appetite and upper abdominal fullness after meals. Belching, indigestion, nausea, etc. are common digestive tract symptoms of liver cancer, among which loss of appetite and abdominal distension are the most common. Diarrhea is also a common digestive tract symptom of liver cancer. It has been reported both at home and abroad. The incidence rate is high and it is easily mistaken for chronic enteritis. Portal hypertension and intestinal dysfunction caused by portal vein or hepatic vein cancer thrombus can cause abdominal distension and increased bowel movements. Abdominal distension can also be caused by ascites. Gastrointestinal dysfunction can also lead to symptoms such as indigestion, belching, and nausea.

Symptom 3: Fever

A considerable number of liver cancer patients will experience sweating and fever. Most fevers are low to moderate, and a few patients may have high fevers, above 39°C, generally not accompanied by chills. The fever of liver cancer is mostly cancerous fever, which is caused by the release of pyrogens into the blood circulation after tumor tissue necrosis. Tumor patients are prone to infection due to low resistance, and may also have fever, which is sometimes difficult to distinguish from cancerous fever of liver cancer. It is necessary to combine blood counts and observe whether antibacterial treatment is effective to make a judgment.

Symptom 4: Weight loss and fatigue

Liver cancer patients often feel more fatigued than other tumor patients, which is similar to patients with chronic hepatitis. The cause of fatigue is unknown. It may be due to digestive disorders, nutritional absorption disorders leading to insufficient energy, or liver cell damage and decreased liver function, resulting in metabolic disorders, certain toxins cannot be inactivated in time, or due to the release of toxic substances due to liver cancer tissue necrosis. Weight loss is also a common symptom of liver cancer patients, which is due to damaged liver function and decreased digestion and absorption function. As the disease progresses, the degree of weight loss may worsen, and cachexia may occur in severe cases.

Symptom 5: Bleeding tendency

Liver cancer patients often have bleeding gums, subcutaneous ecchymoses and other bleeding tendencies, which are mainly caused by impaired liver function and abnormal coagulation function. It is especially common in patients with liver cancer and cirrhosis. Gastrointestinal bleeding is more common, mainly due to portal hypertension leading to esophageal varices. In fact, gastrointestinal bleeding is also the main cause of death in liver cancer patients.

Symptom 6: Lower limb edema

Patients with liver cancer and ascites often have lower limb edema, which may occur at the ankle in mild cases and spread to the entire lower limb in severe cases. Clinically, some patients have been seen with severe lower limb edema, with fluid oozing out of the thigh skin. The main cause of lower limb edema is ascites compressing the lower limb veins or cancer thrombus blocking them, which obstructs venous return. Mild edema can also be caused by low plasma albumin.

Symptom 7: Acute abdomen

Rupture of cancerous nodules usually causes pain in the liver area. During physical examination, there is obvious tenderness in the liver area, which is a symptom of liver capsule irritation. After the rupture of cancerous nodules, some patients experience acute abdominal pain accompanied by peritoneal irritation symptoms, which can be easily misdiagnosed as acute peritonitis. Abdominal pain caused by rupture of cancerous nodules is usually accompanied by a drop in blood pressure or even shock, which is different from general acute peritonitis.