Can blood tests detect liver cancer? What are the methods for liver cancer testing?

Only if we can curb the disease in its early stages can we take many measures to treat it. However, the premise is that we must know the early symptoms of the disease in our lives so that we can discover the disease in its early stages. So what are the early symptoms of liver cancer? Today, let our experts introduce some of them to us, hoping to help everyone.

So what are the typical symptoms of liver cancer? It takes about 2 years for liver cancer to develop from the first cancer cell in the liver to the patient's conscious symptoms. During this period, the patient may not have any symptoms or signs. Only a few patients may experience symptoms such as loss of appetite, upper abdominal distension, abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, etc. Some patients may experience mild liver enlargement, jaundice and skin itching. But in general, these symptoms are difficult to be taken seriously by people. Therefore, in clinical practice, many liver cancer patients are often in the middle or late stages of their condition when they are discovered.

Liver cancer screening methods

Related content: The early symptoms of liver cancer and the examination items that need to be done in the hospital: Early detection and early treatment, and going to the hospital for examination in time if you feel unwell are important prerequisites for curing liver cancer.

1. Blood test: Blood test is used to measure tumor markers. Tumor markers are a marker that measures whether the body organs and tissues release cancer cells into the blood. It is a designated method for checking various cancers.

2. Routine blood test: including the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, and the hemoglobin content in red blood cells. Routine blood test is an important means to detect the patient's overall physical condition and can reflect the patient's physical condition.

3. X-ray angiography: used to examine the specific location of liver cancer. Angiography can show cancer nodules with a diameter of more than 1 cm, with a positive rate of 87%.

Typical early symptoms of liver cancer:

1. Obvious loss of appetite: abdominal distension, indigestion, sometimes nausea and vomiting

2. Thinness and fatigue: often occur in the middle and late stages of liver cancer. It 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.

3. Systemic failure: severe fatigue, weight loss, progressive anemia and edema.

4. Jaundice, ascites, and skin itching are common symptoms of liver cancer.

About 1/3 of the cases have jaundice during the course of the disease. The cause of jaundice is that the tumor invades the main bile duct in the liver, and the metastatic cancer of the portal lymph nodes compresses the extrahepatic bile duct. Ascites is often caused by the patient's original liver cirrhosis, the invasion of cancer tissue into the vein to form a cancer thrombus, and the compression of the portal vein by cancer nodules. Ascites often accumulates very quickly and can be straw yellow or bloody. Skin itching is a common symptom of patients with liver disease and liver cancer.

5. Pain in the liver area: often caused by the rapid growth of the tumor, which increases the tension of the liver capsule, or the tumor involving the liver capsule; it is often the first symptom of mid-to-late stage liver cancer. The pain is mostly located in the right ribs or under the xiphoid process. At first, it is mostly intermittent or continuous dull pain or stabbing pain. The pain may be mild or severe, or it may be relieved by itself within a period of time, or even disappear. The pain is more obvious at night, and sometimes analgesics are required. If the tumor is located at the top of the diaphragm of the right lobe of the liver, the pain may often radiate to the right shoulder or right back; if the tumor is located in the left lobe of the liver, the upper and middle abdominal distension and pain will appear earlier. When the tumor is located deep in the substance of the right lobe of the liver, pain is generally rare. If the pain in the liver area suddenly intensifies, accompanied by tenderness or positive muscle belly sign, it should be considered that the liver has ruptured or the tumor has bled under the liver capsule.

6. Digestive tract symptoms: often manifested as decreased appetite, upper abdominal fullness after meals, or even nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Digestive tract symptoms are often caused by pathological changes in the liver, resulting in increased pressure in the portal vein system, digestive tract dysfunction, or enlarged tumors compressing or involving the stomach.