What liver cancer tests should be done? Four tests you must know to rule out liver cancer

When we feel that we have early symptoms of liver cancer, what kind of examinations should we do when we go to the hospital? What do the examinations include? Let us first understand it together and see what the experts suggest to us.

The examination mainly includes serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFp) and liver imaging examination. Alpha-fetoprotein is currently commonly used and is the simplest and most practical. In my country, more than 60% of liver cancer cases have serum AFp>400μg/L, 95% of liver cancer patients have a background of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 10% have a background of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and some patients have overlapping infections of HBV and HCV. Therefore, if AFp>400μg/L is combined with viral liver disease, liver cancer should be highly suspected, and imaging-related examinations should be completed as soon as possible to achieve early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment.

Modern medical imaging techniques also provide great help in the diagnosis of liver cancer, and provide a reliable basis for the positioning, qualitative, quantitative, regular and treatment planning of liver cancer.

1. The most commonly used examination is liver ultrasound. Ultrasound examination is a non-invasive examination and has no adverse effects on human tissues. It is simple to operate, intuitive and accurate, low-cost, convenient and non-invasive, and widely popular. It can be used for the screening of liver cancer and follow-up after treatment.

2. CT has become an important routine means of diagnosing liver cancer. Abdominal enhanced CT scans can clearly show the size, number, shape, location, boundary, tumor blood supply, and relationship with the intrahepatic ducts of liver cancer, which is important for further clarifying the diagnosis and distinguishing it from other benign liver lesions. At the same time, it is also important to clarify the staging and grading of liver cancer, which is important for guiding treatment and judging prognosis. Image analysis software can also be used to reconstruct the various ducts in the liver, accurately track the course of blood vessels in each liver segment, the relationship between tumors and blood vessels, simulate the surgical resection plane, and calculate the volume of the pre-resected tumor and the remaining liver volume, greatly improving the safety of the operation.

3. Liver-specific MRI can improve the detection rate of small liver cancer. It is also helpful for differentiating liver cancer from focal hyperplastic nodules and hepatic adenomas, and can serve as an important supplement to CT examinations.

4. pET (positron emission tomography)-CT whole-body scan can understand the overall condition and evaluate tumor metastasis, and can more comprehensively determine the tumor stage and prognosis, but it is relatively expensive and is generally not used as the first choice.

5. Selective hepatic artery angiography is an invasive examination. Since liver cancer is rich in blood supply, mainly supplied by the hepatic artery, hepatic artery angiography can clearly show the blood supply of small liver lesions and tumors. After a clear diagnosis, iodized oil can be injected to block the tumor supply vessels to achieve the purpose of treatment. It is suitable for patients who have not been diagnosed after other examinations. Patients with hepatitis B and C should have regular checkups, and if possible, they should have annual physical examinations. Liver B-ultrasound is the most basic examination.