Introduction
Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) is a serious disease of the cells and tissue of the liver. In most cases, the cause of this uncontrolled cell proliferation is due to various previous diseases of the liver. For example, 80% of liver cell carcinomas are based on cirrhosis of the liver, the cause of which is excessive alcohol consumption or an inflammation of the liver (hepatitis). The metabolic disease hemochromatosis can also lead to liver cell carcinoma.
Overview of typical symptoms
Pain in the right upper abdomen Fatigue – tiredness Exhaustion Itching Icterus – yellow discolored skin and eyes Fever Weight loss Diarrhea Ascitis – water in the abdomen Confusion
- Pain in the right upper abdomen
- TirednessFatigue
- Itching
- Icterus – yellow discolored skin and eyes
- Fever
- Weight loss
- Diarrhea
- Ascitis – water in the abdomen
- Confusion
The pain
Pain is not a typical symptom, especially in the early stages of liver cancer. On the contrary, a cancer in the liver grows unnoticed for a long time, since it causes almost no pain and hardly any other symptoms. This is one reason why liver cancer is such a serious disease.
By the time liver cancer becomes noticeable and causes pain and other symptoms, it is usually very advanced and often already spread. If pain occurs as a result of liver cancer, it usually manifests itself in the right upper abdomen, often at the beginning only as an unpleasant feeling of pressure or dull pain. This pain is usually caused by the cancer increasing the size of the liver, which leads to tension in the capsule surrounding the liver.
This is because the liver itself is not sensitive to pain, only the capsule surrounding it. One of the few symptoms that liver cancer almost always causes is pain under the right costal arch. At the beginning, this often manifests itself only as a slight dull pain or even only as a feeling of pressure. Unfortunately, if the pain in the right upper abdomen is caused by liver cancer, it is usually caused by an already very advanced disease process, since the liver itself is not sensitive to pain. Only the surrounding liver capsule reacts to the increase in size of the organ with tension and then pain.
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