Liver cancer is sixth most common worldwide

CHENNAI: Liver cancer remains to be the sixth most common cancer worldwide in 2024. It is the fifth most common cancer in men and the ninth most common cancer in women. Almost 70-80 per cent of patients with liver cancer are diagnosed with advanced-stage disease. It is because of the silent nature of the disease in its early stages and they do not manifest any symptoms. Early stages of liver cancer can be identified only by screening with an abdominal scan and certain cancer-specific blood tests.

Dr Joy Varghese, Director of Hepatology at Gleneagles Hospital says that there are various types of liver cancer, among which hepatocellular carcinoma remains the most common. The risk factors for the development of liver cancer are patients with pre-existing liver disease, cirrhosis, certain viral infections like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, overweight/ obese, alcohol consumption and certain genetic diseases. It can also run in families like other malignancies.

In recent days, with the changing lifestyle and dietary habits, more people are prone to develop fatty liver, which when severe and unattended, might progress to develop liver cancer. The symptoms of liver cancer usually appear in quite advanced stages of the disease. Common symptoms include abdomen pain, weight loss, poor appetite, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, etc. Some patients might also develop blood vomiting, abdomen and leg swelling and breathing difficulty.

The only way to identify liver cancer at early stages is by proper screening for those with risk factors for the same. Hence it is recommended for all patients with cirrhosis, hepatitis B/C infection, alcohol-related liver disease and family history of liver cancer to undergo screening tests. The tests performed for screening are usually simple blood tests specific for cancer and abdomen ultrasound scan, CT scan or MRI scan.

Dr Joy Varghese says that the newer techniques introduced for treating liver cancer, even for the advanced stage of the disease are appreciable. The primitive advantages include the requirement of minimal anaesthesia, having the least side effects, having quick recovery and can be performed as daycare procedures. If identified at an early stage, liver cancer can be completely cured by surgery- surgical removal of tumour alone or liver transplantation.