What are the diagnostic methods for liver cancer? Five common complications of liver cancer patients

Cancer is a common disease in life. There are many types of cancer, and liver cancer is a common one. It seriously threatens human health. Many patients die from liver cancer. Experts say that, to be precise, patients do not die from liver cancer, but from complications of liver cancer. So do you know about the complications of liver cancer? Let's take a look at the complications of liver cancer.

Common complications in patients with liver cancer

1. Bloody pleural effusion and ascites

Liver cancer patients often suffer from ascites due to severe liver damage, decreased albumin synthesis ability, and portal hypertension. When tumor cells implant into the peritoneum, ascites may also occur, and the ascites is mostly bloody at this time. When liver cancer nodules near the diaphragm rupture and bleed, the ascites may also become bloody. Liver cancer near the diaphragm directly infiltrates the pits and pleura, which may cause bloody pleural effusion. Tumor metastasis to the pleura may also cause bloody pleural effusion. Ascites may occur in many malignant tumors, and ascites that occur on the basis of tumors is called malignant ascites. Both secondary and primary liver cancers are often accompanied by ascites, which is closely related to the fact that liver cancer patients often have cirrhosis and portal hypertension.

2. Liver cancer rupture and bleeding

Spontaneous rupture and bleeding of primary liver cancer is a common and serious complication of liver cancer, with an incidence of 9%-22.6%. It is a rapid onset, a dangerous condition, and a poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are helpful in improving the prognosis of patients. It is one of the main causes of death in liver cancer patients, accounting for 9%-10% of the causes of death from liver cancer, and ranks fourth among the causes of death from liver cancer. Most scholars believe that it is due to direct invasion of the tumor, which obstructs the venous outflow channel, causing venous hypertension, which in turn causes bleeding and rupture.

3. Secondary infection

Due to the long-term consumption of the cancer, the resistance is weakened, especially after radiation and chemotherapy, the white blood cell count decreases, which makes it easy to develop various infections, such as pneumonia, intestinal infection, fungal infection, etc. The main sites of infection are the respiratory tract, intestines, gallbladder system and abdominal cavity. It can be caused by liver cancer itself or the common liver cirrhosis, or by anti-tumor treatment. It often occurs in the middle and late stages of liver cancer and is one of the main causes of death in liver cancer patients.

4. Jaundice

Jaundice is one of the common complications in patients with advanced liver cancer, with an incidence rate of about 29.6%-37.5%. Jaundice is a clinical manifestation of yellowing of the sclera, skin, mucous membranes, body fluids, etc. caused by increased plasma bilirubin concentration when bilirubin metabolism is impaired. Bilirubin comes from aging red blood cells in the body. Its production, metabolism and excretion are closely related to the liver. Any obstruction in any link can lead to increased bilirubin concentration in the blood and cause jaundice. According to the cause, jaundice can be divided into three types: hemolytic jaundice, hepatocellular jaundice and obstructive jaundice.

5. Hepatic encephalopathy

Also known as hepatic coma or hepatocerebral syndrome, it is a common complication of liver cancer in the terminal stage. It is a syndrome of central nervous system dysfunction based on metabolic disorders, and its main clinical manifestations are impaired consciousness, abnormal behavior and coma. Hepatic encephalopathy is one of the common causes of death in liver cancer, causing the death of about 30% of patients.

How to diagnose liver cancer

1. Alpha-fetoprotein determination: This diagnostic method uses an immune method to determine the production of embryonic antigens. It is currently one of the most effective methods for diagnosing this disease. If no other evidence of liver cancer is found, the positive α-Fp countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis method is greater than 500ng/ml and lasts for more than one month, active liver cancer and pregnancy are excluded, and gonadal embryonic tumors are excluded, liver cancer can be diagnosed.

2. Ultrasound examination: What are the accurate diagnosis methods for liver cancer? Ultrasound examination is currently a better method for diagnosing this disease. Its advantage is that it can be detected without invasion. The size and shape of the tumor and the presence of cancer thrombus in the hepatic vein and portal vein can be accurately displayed, with a diagnosis rate of up to 84%. Lesions with a diameter of less than 2 cm can also be found.

3. CT examination: With high resolution, it can detect early liver cancer with a diameter of about 1.0 cm. Enhanced scanning can help differentiate it from hemangioma. The diagnostic accuracy of CT examination for liver cancer is as high as 90%, but due to its high cost, it is not widely used.

4. Celiac artery or hepatic artery angiography: For cancers with rich blood vessels, sometimes it can show space-occupying lesions with a diameter of 0.5 to 1 cm, and its diagnostic accuracy rate is as high as 90%. It can determine the location, size and distribution of the lesion, especially for the localization diagnosis of small liver cancer, which is the best among various examination methods currently available.