Therefore, many people mistakenly believe that as long as there is no jaundice, it means that the liver is healthy and they have no liver cancer. But is this really the case? Maybe we're all mistaken! First of all, the liver is the detoxification metabolic organ of the human body. Yes, bilirubin produced by aging red blood cells is indeed metabolized in the liver and participates in bile synthesis. However, we should know that the liver's own compensatory ability is very strong, even if there are only less than 30% healthy hepatocytes left, it can complete the basic work; Therefore, jaundice in clinical liver cancer patients is basically the manifestation after entering the advanced stage, especially in patients with diffuse and cholangiocarcinoma.
The etiology of jaundice is mostly related to extensive tumor infiltration and impaired liver cell function. Clinically, jaundice caused by hepatocyte injury is called hepatocellular jaundice. In addition, when the tumor develops to the late stage, it will invade the intrahepatic bile duct, compress the bile duct, and also induce obstructive cholestasis, leading to jaundice! But what needs to be emphasized here is that jaundice may be the manifestation of advanced liver cancer, but this is not absolute. We should know that there are many diseases that induce jaundice, including viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, gallstones, pancreatic cancer and so on. If jaundice appears, it is suspected to be cancerous, which is obviously unscientific and incorrect! As mentioned earlier, patients with liver cancer complicated with jaundice mostly appear in the late stage.
At this time, patients not only have jaundice, but also often have the following symptoms: 1, liver pain: According to clinical data, the most common initial manifestation of liver cancer is liver pain, especially in patients with chronic diseases such as viral hepatitis and cirrhosis. This kind of pain is manifested as dull pain or swelling pain that continues to deepen. However, it should be noted that the cause of pain in the liver area is not from the liver itself, but the liver enlargement and excessive liver capsule on the surface of tumor accumulation, which leads to dull pain or swelling pain in the patient's liver area. When the tumor is located at the top of the right diaphragm of the liver, the patient may also have radiation pain in the right shoulder and back.
2. Digestive tract abnormalities: The functions involved in the liver are quite complex, and it also plays an irreplaceable role in the operation of the digestive system, such as secreting bile, synthesizing and storing nutrients. Therefore, when liver cancer begins to destroy liver function, patients may have digestive tract symptoms, and the continuous development of liver cancer may be accompanied by ascites, gastrointestinal congestion, portal hypertension and other symptoms, which further deepens the digestive tract reaction, and patients may have abnormal manifestations such as loss of appetite, abdominal distension, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after meals.
3. Ascites: After the advanced stage of liver cancer, it is difficult for patients to escape the symptoms of ascites, and the nature of ascites is mostly straw yellow or bloody. According to clinical data, ascites induced by liver cancer mostly occurs on the basis of liver cirrhosis. The patient's portal vein tumor thrombus or hepatic vein tumor thrombus is in the stage of disease development, and then develops into peritoneal effusion. In addition, ascites will also occur when liver cancer cells begin to infiltrate the peritoneum. Generally speaking, jaundice may not be related to liver cancer, and liver cancer may not be complicated with jaundice. However, for adults, as long as jaundice appears, it is a signal of the arrival of the disease, and in most cases it is related to liver diseases, especially jaundice with the above three symptoms at the same time. It is likely that the liver has become cancerous, and even the condition has reached an advanced stage, and it is necessary to seek medical advice in time.