The liver, known as a silent organ, is famous for showing no initial symptoms even when exposed to disease. Liver cancer also has no symptoms in the early stages. When abdominal distension, weight loss, indigestion, abdominal pain, jaundice, or ascites occur, the cancer is often already quite advanced. Therefore, only about 30% of diagnosed patients can undergo surgical treatment such as liver resection or liver transplantation. Therefore, if you have risk factors such as hepatitis or fatty liver, it is most important to prevent it and receive active management and treatment.
Liver cancer with high incidence and low survival rate
According to 2022 data from the Central Cancer Registration Headquarters, 15,152 cases of liver cancer occurred in Korea in 2020, making it the 7th most common cancer among men and women. Although it occurs frequently, it is often discovered after the cancer has already progressed to a significant extent, so the prognosis is poor and the survival rate is known to be low. Recently, the survival rate has continued to increase due to the development of surgical techniques and anticancer drugs, and the five-year relative survival rate has risen to nearly 40% from 2016 to 2020.
Silent organ ‘liver cancer’ has almost no early symptoms
The reason liver cancer is difficult to detect in its early stages is because there are no symptoms. Unlike other diseases, the liver is nicknamed the silent organ and does not show any symptoms. In fact, even if the liver tissue is only 30%, its function is not affected at all. If liver cancer is treated aggressively in the early stages, the cure rate exceeds 90%. This is because if it does not metastasize and liver function is good, cure can be expected through surgery.
The main causes of liver cancer are hepatitis and fatty liver.
The most common causes of liver cancer include hepatitis B or C virus, fatty liver, and alcoholic hepatitis. If you actively manage and treat only these causative diseases, the occurrence of liver cancer can be prevented, and even if liver cancer occurs, it can be detected early and treated surgically. For early detection of liver cancer, you must undergo a liver ultrasound and a tumor marker blood test (alpha-fetoprotein test) once a year. If you are suffering from a related disease, you should get tested more often. If you have liver cirrhosis, it is better to get tested once every 2 to 3 months.
Treatment with radiofrequency rupture therapy, hepatic artery chemical embolization, liver resection surgery, liver transplantation, etc.
When liver cancer is diagnosed, the treatment method is determined depending on the stage of liver cancer. It can be broadly divided into surgical resection and non-surgical treatment such as radiofrequency burst therapy or hepatic artery chemical embolization. Through diagnosis, the degree of cancer progression is determined, and the optimal treatment method for the patient is found after making a comprehensive judgment, including the size and location of the cancer and liver function status. Surgery is performed by a surgeon, and non-surgical treatments are performed by an internal medicine department.
Consider radiofrequency burst therapy for early liver cancer, and hepatic artery chemical embolization for advanced cancer.
A representative non-surgical treatment is radiofrequency therapy. It is a method that can reliably treat early stage cancer. However, it is not recommended when the location of the cancer is adjacent to a blood vessel. This is because heat is taken away by blood vessels and does not transmit enough heat to cause necrosis of cancerous tissue. Hepatic artery chemical embolization is performed on patients with advanced cancer who are not candidates for surgery. The goal is not to cure the cancer, but to block the oxygen and nutrients necessary for the cancer to proliferate and cause the cancer to die. Anticancer drugs are administered by finding the arteries that supply nutrients to the liver, and blood flow is blocked with substances that block blood vessels. It has the advantage of selectively killing cancer and minimizing damage to normal liver tissue, but cancer recurrence is frequent. Therefore, follow-up examinations are required after the procedure and reoperation is performed whenever recurrence occurs.
Surgical resection is possible only if liver function is good.
Surgery can be considered, mainly in the early stages of liver cancer, when the tumor is limited to the liver or only invades the periphery of the liver. The decision is made after comprehensively reviewing the patient’s health status and whether the liver function is good. Surgical resection is a good way to reliably remove liver cancer, but it is difficult to perform if liver function is poor. For example, even in the early stages of liver cancer, if liver function declines due to cirrhosis, liver transplantation is the only alternative.
If cancer progression is limited, consider living liver transplantation.
Liver transplant surgery is known to be the most ideal treatment not only for early stage advanced liver cancer but also for cases where cirrhosis has become severe and medical treatment is no longer possible. In particular, living liver transplantation, in which part of a healthy human liver is transplanted to a patient, can be done as soon as a donor appears without a complicated process. However, because living liver transplantation is limited in advanced liver cancer, early detection is very important.
Liver resection surgery is performed laparoscopically, with less pain and faster recovery.
Most liver cancer surgeries are performed laparoscopically. Five holes the size of a finger (5 to 12 mm) are made in the abdomen, a light source, camera, and surgical tools are inserted to remove the liver, including the tumor. Laparoscopic liver resection surgery time is similar to open surgery, but the pain felt by the patient is reduced and recovery is faster. Recovery from laparoscopy is fast enough to allow patients to walk and eat within a day or two after surgery. Patients who undergo laparotomies often complain of pain for 3 to 5 days, and the hospitalization period is also long. In addition, open surgery leaves a large scar of about 30 cm, and some may grow longer during the process.
Life management after liver cancer surgery
All you have to do is maintain your daily life. Some people feel a little tired due to the aftereffects of surgery, but it is best to continue your life as usual but not overdo it. You should avoid strenuous exercise, but you can walk or engage in light physical activity. You can also eat well. Some people eat too much health food because their physical strength has decreased due to surgery. For these people, it is advisable to maintain an appropriate weight as excessive calorie intake can lead to fatty liver. It is recommended to avoid eating a diet that is too high in fat or carbohydrates, and to exercise regularly. In addition, there are some people who use folk remedies to harm their liver function. The liver is likened to a chemical factory that performs detoxification. Therefore, you should not put too much strain on your liver by taking unproven herbs or herbs. Also, you should refrain from drinking even a little alcohol. View all articles
2024-01-29 03:41:01
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