6 common examination methods for liver cancer 2 common symptoms of liver cancer

People must have a deep understanding of liver cancer, because it is a common disease that causes considerable harm to patients and their families. Do you know what are the examination methods for liver cancer?

Liver cancer is a disease that causes great harm to patients, so we should prevent liver cancer as early as possible to avoid the disease affecting our healthy life. If you feel uncomfortable in your life, please go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible. So what are the examination methods for liver cancer? Let me introduce them to you below.

6 common examination methods for liver cancer

1. Alpha-fetoprotein test

It is an immunological method to detect embryonic antigens, which is one of the most specific methods for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma. It is relatively accurate in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma. For patients without other evidence of liver cancer, negative (α-Fp) countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis or quantitative greater than 500 ng/ml for more than one month, and who can exclude pregnancy and active liver function diseases, gonadal embryonic tumors, etc., hepatocellular carcinoma can be diagnosed.

2. Blood enzyme test

The levels of GABA-glutamyl transpeptidase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in the serum of liver cancer patients may be higher than normal, but due to the lack of specificity, they are mostly used as auxiliary diagnosis.

3. Ultrasonic testing

The use of B-type ultrasound detection can show the size, shape, location of the tumor and whether there is a cancer thrombus in the hepatic vein or portal vein. The diagnostic accuracy rate can reach 84%. It can detect lesions with a diameter of two centimeters or less. It is currently the best non-invasive detection method with positioning value.

4. CT detection

The resolution is high and it can detect early liver cancer with a diameter of about one centimeter. Enhanced scanning can help distinguish it from hemangioma. The diagnostic accuracy rate for liver cancer is as high as 90%. However, it is expensive and has not yet been widely used.

5. Selective celiac artery or hepatic artery angiography

For cancerous tumors with abundant blood vessels, space-occupying lesions with a diameter of 0.5 to 1 cm may occasionally appear, and the diagnostic accuracy rate is as high as 90%. The location, size and distribution of the lesion can be determined, especially for the localization diagnosis of small liver cancer, which is the best among all the current detection methods.

6. X-ray detection

Abdominal fluoroscopy or plain film shows that the shadow of the liver is expanding. Cancer in the right lobe of the liver often shows that the right diaphragm is lowered, the movement is restricted or it is locally raised. In the left lobe of the liver or a large liver cancer, X-ray barium meal examination shows signs of compression of the stomach and transverse colon.

Symptoms of Liver Cancer

1. Digestive tract symptoms and liver symptoms

When patients reach the late stage, digestive tract symptoms are extremely obvious. Lack of appetite and nausea and vomiting make it impossible for liver cancer patients to eat normally, which may be related to the pain, discomfort, constipation, and emotional tension and depression caused by liver cancer. When the tumor stimulates the diaphragm, stomach, and lower esophagus, nausea and hiccups may occur. At the same time, due to the side effects of chemotherapy and other therapies or tumors stimulating the digestive system and nervous system, vomiting, mental depression and other symptoms may occur. Pain in the liver area is the most common symptom of patients with advanced liver cancer. In the late stage of liver cancer, the liver capsule is often infiltrated by lesions, and more severe needle-like or dull and persistent pain in the liver area may occur. When accompanied by rupture of liver cancer nodules, it can cause severe pain, acute abdomen and other clinical manifestations, which is often one of the causes of death from liver cancer.

2. Difficulty breathing and intracavitary effusion

Some patients with liver cancer will experience dyspnea in the late stage, and it is quite serious. There are many reasons for dyspnea in the late stage: ascites, which can lead to decreased diaphragmatic mobility and affect respiratory function; cachexia, which may cause severe pneumonia; lung metastasis of the tumor, lung parenchymal necrosis, respiratory failure, etc. Malignant cavity effusion is an important complication of malignant tumors. In the late stage of liver cancer, malignant cavity effusion occurs in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, peritoneal cavity, pericardial cavity, etc. If not handled properly, it can lead to rapid deterioration and death.