How to detect and treat liver cancer early? Pay attention to these two misunderstandings when treating liver cancer

The early symptoms of liver cancer are not obvious, so it is difficult to detect. This is also the reason why the treatment results of most liver cancer patients are extremely unsatisfactory. So how can we detect early liver cancer? How should we treat it after it is discovered? Let's take a look together!

How to detect liver cancer early?

According to the World Health Organization, the following people are at high risk of liver cancer and need to be screened regularly to help detect early liver cancer.

1. Family history of liver cancer

2. Patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis

3. Long-term smokers and alcoholics

4. Aged over 35 years old

These people should undergo liver cancer screening at least once a year, and the screening items include serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFp) and liver ultrasound examination. For those with AFp>400μg/L and no liver mass found in ultrasound examination, pregnancy, active liver disease and gonadal embryonic tumors should be excluded; if they can be excluded, liver CT and (or) MRI should be performed. If AFp is elevated but does not reach the diagnostic level, in addition to excluding the above-mentioned conditions that may cause AFp increase, the dynamic changes of AFp should be tracked. If necessary, MRI or CT should be performed for further diagnosis.

How is liver cancer treated?

The current treatment measures used clinically include: surgical resection, interventional therapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment, etc., but it must be emphasized that the treatment of liver cancer is a comprehensive treatment.

Generally, for early-stage liver cancer, surgery is first performed for radical resection, followed by other anti-tumor treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and traditional Chinese medicine. If surgery is not possible, palliative treatment can also be considered, such as interventional chemotherapy embolization for liver cancer, which can also achieve certain therapeutic effects. The specific treatment to be taken depends on individual circumstances.

There are two major misunderstandings in liver cancer treatment:

1. Surgery is a cure

Many people, due to lack of medical knowledge, think that as long as surgery is possible, everything will be fine. In fact, this idea is very wrong. Liver cancer surgery does not mean that it has been cured. There is still a possibility of recurrence. Therefore, after surgery, appropriate auxiliary treatment methods should be selected according to the specific situation, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and traditional Chinese medicine treatment to consolidate the therapeutic effect and prevent recurrence.

2. No follow-up after discharge

Many people give up follow-up treatment and do not have follow-up examinations after their symptoms are relieved. As a result, they regret it when the tumor recurs or metastasizes. Therefore, you must not be lazy and have regular follow-up examinations. Generally, you should have a follow-up examination within one year and three months after surgery. Regular follow-up examinations can help you understand the transformation of the disease well, so that you can conduct further follow-up treatment in case of improvement or recurrence, so as to achieve the best treatment effect, and you can also deal with problems in time when they are found.