The tiredness | The symptoms of liver cancer

The tiredness

Fatigue and exhaustion are one of the important early symptoms of liver cancer. However, these are also very unspecific symptoms that can occur in the context of many other diseases or are simply caused by stress. In the course of a severe liver disease and thus also in liver cancer, fatigue and exhaustion increases enormously and can lead to loss of consciousness and even coma.

The itchiness

The majority of patients with liver diseases such as liver dysfunction or liver cancer complain of severe itching all over the body. The exact pathophysiological mechanism for this is not yet clearly understood. It is currently assumed that the reduced liver function leads to a disturbed excretion of bile acid. This remaining bile acid leads to irritation of nerve endings of the skin and thus to the described itching.

The yellowing of skin

Icterus is the yellow coloration of skin and eyes. This discoloration is due to a lack of excretion of the so-called bilirubin from our body. Bilirubin is produced by various metabolic cycles in our body and must be excreted via the liver and in small parts via the kidneys.

To make this possible, the bilirubin must be converted in the liver into a form in which it can be excreted by the body. Most of the bilirubin is then released into the stool via the bile ducts and a small part via the kidneys into the urine. If a disruption occurs somewhere in this metabolic chain, the bilirubin remains in the body and is deposited in other organs.

This is mainly in the skin and eyes, which leads to the conspicuous yellow coloration. In liver cancer, the circulation described above can be disturbed in various places. On the one hand, the cancer in the liver can lead to a functional disorder of the liver, so that the liver can no longer sufficiently convert the bilirubin into the excretable form and it remains in the body.

Another possibility is that the liver can still sufficiently metabolize the bilirubin, but the pathways to excretion are blocked.Bilirubin is released by the liver into the bile ducts and excreted into the intestine. Because of the direct proximity of the liver to the bile ducts, liver cancer can lead to the bile ducts being blocked and to bile stasis resulting in jaundice. You can find more information on this topic at: The jaundice.