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This section describes the basic functions of the liver.
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This section describes the basic development of cancer in the body and cancer as it
spreads to the liver.
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This section describes the basic symptoms of liver cancer.
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Detecting Cancer
Early stages of cancer can be asymptomatic and may go undetected
for months or even years. When symptoms do develop, they are most
pronounced as pain.
Pain associated with cancer is a result of several possibilities:
invasion or destruction of normal tissue with cancer cells; stretching
of internal tissue by tumor
growth; pressure of tumor on an organ; blockage of a vital passageway
by the tumor; and infection caused by cancer.
Other symptoms may include loss of appetite, loss of weight, fever of
unknown origin, limb weakness, sensory loss, or an absence of tendon
reflexes in the limb.
Liver cancer, both primary and metastatic, often exhibits symptoms
of general malaise
as well as pain and tenderness. The discomfort is usually of a
moderate degree and most often in the upper or upper right part of the
abdomen. In more advanced cases, symptoms of jaundice, a yellowing of
the skin and eyes, may also appear.
< Back to Liver Cancer
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