How to diagnose liver cancer in high-risk groups? 4 methods of liver cancer diagnosis are available

Blushing after drinking may be a genetic mutation, and long-term alcoholism has a much higher risk of liver cancer than normal people. Recently, a four-year follow-up survey by the Jiangsu Provincial Cancer Research Institute revealed the intrinsic connection between long-term alcoholism and the risk of liver cancer. Alcoholic hepatitis B virus carriers have the highest risk of liver cancer.

Studies have shown that alcohol metabolism in the human body is completed through acetaldehyde deoxygenase 2 (ALDH2). The function of ALDH2 in the human body is to oxidize acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which is not carcinogenic, and finally decompose it into harmless carbon dioxide and water for excretion. However, when the normal gene of ALDH2 mutates, the enzyme will lose its activity, causing the acetaldehyde concentration in the blood to increase by more than 6 times after drinking. Long-term alcoholism will accumulate acetaldehyde in the body, which may eventually cause liver cells to become cancerous.

The study also found that one-third of the Chinese population, or about 400 to 500 million people, are carriers of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 variant genotype, and the vast majority of them are unaware that they are deficient in enzyme activity.

Liver cancer alert several major symptoms:

Gastrointestinal symptoms

It often presents as loss of appetite, upper abdominal fullness after meals, or even nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, especially diarrhea, which is easily mistaken for enteritis and ignored. In addition, digestive tract dysfunction, enlarged tumor compression or involvement of the stomach can lead to portal hypertension.

Liver discomfort

The typical symptom of liver cancer is liver pain, but this symptom is not obvious in the early stages of liver cancer. Often, there is only discomfort in the right upper abdomen and upper abdomen. Sometimes a lump can be felt, which is hard in texture, uneven in surface, and has an obvious tendency to increase with continuous observation.

Systemic symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue

Patients are experiencing unexplained weight loss due to liver damage and decreased digestion and absorption functions. This may be caused by tumor metabolites causing changes in the body's biochemical metabolism, coupled with reduced food intake. In severe cases, cachexia may occur.

Which method should be chosen for liver cancer diagnosis:

1. Ultrasound examination:

B-ultrasound examination is economical and convenient. It can show the size, shape and location of the tumor, and the diagnostic accuracy rate is about 90%. The detection rate of liver lesions is also relatively high. This is one of the methods for detecting early liver cancer. Generally speaking, it takes about 4 to 6 months for liver cancer to grow from 1 cm to 3 cm. Therefore, if liver cancer is not found in the first B-ultrasound liver cancer examination, it should be taken again after 4 to 6 months. The liver cancer should still be below 3 cm, and the treatment effect should be good.

2. CT:

CT is an extremely important method for liver cancer examination, and it is widely used in China. However, when the diameter of liver cancer is less than 2 cm or the density is close to that of normal liver, it is difficult to show it on CT. Liver cancer is diffuse and difficult to detect on CT; it is difficult to distinguish between primary and secondary liver cancer.

3. pET-CT:

pET-CT is one of the methods for early liver cancer examination. Patients with hepatitis B and other conditions may consider the examination. pET-CT is a functional molecular imaging system that integrates pET and CT. It can not only reflect the biochemical metabolic information of liver space-occupying tissues through pET functional imaging, but also accurately locate the lesions through CT morphological imaging. At the same time, whole-body scanning can understand the overall condition and evaluate the metastasis, so as to achieve the purpose of early detection of lesions. At the same time, it can understand the size and metabolic changes of tumors before and after treatment.

4. Magnetic resonance imaging MRI is a rapidly developing examination method in recent years. In the past, MRI was not as ideal as CT examination. Now, with the continuous development of MRI technology, the scanning time is getting faster and faster, and the resolution is getting higher and higher. It can also make a relatively accurate judgment for some small lesions in the liver. Now MRI also plays a big role in the examination of liver cancer.

Selenium supplementation is a good strategy to prevent liver cancer

Selenium is one of the main components of glutathione peroxidase, which can prevent the formation of peroxides and free radicals in the body, and can oxidize lipid peroxides or hydrogen peroxide, thereby protecting cells in the body and inhibiting the occurrence of cancer. Therefore, selenium can be called the "anti-cancer star" among human trace elements. The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences conducted an 8-year selenium supplementation experiment in Qidong, Jiangsu Province, a high-incidence area for liver cancer, and the results showed that the incidence of liver cancer in the selenium group was reduced by an average of 49% compared with the control group.

In addition, it has been reported that the rate of liver cancer induced by aflatoxin in rats was 65%, which was reduced to 24% after selenium supplementation. The rate of precancerous lesions in duck liver induced by aflatoxin was 26%, which was reduced to 6% after selenium supplementation. It can be seen that selenium is very effective in preventing and treating liver cancer.