Liver cancer can remain silent for a long time.
The host Thierry Ardisson died on July 14 at 76 from liver cancer. This cancer can remain silent for a long time and is considered to be “bad prognosis”. It is favored by cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis, metabolic syndrome (often associated with obesity and/or diabetes) and excessive alcohol consumption. There are two types of liver cancers: hepatocarcinoma (the most common) and cholangiocarcinoma. “With the exception of cholangiocarcinomas which are very close to the bile ducts (which is rare) and which can cause jaundice because they compress bile ducts and prevent the evacuation of bile Produced by the liver, liver cancers are almost asymptomatic. We can have symptoms that are called generals which are little specific as great fatigue, loss of appetite or weight loss … But these signs are common to all cancers and are not typical of liver cancer“explains Professor Renato Lupinacci, visceral and digestive surgeon, Ambroise-Paré hospital (APHP-Université Paris Saclay).
Why does liver cancer not give symptoms? “A cancerous tumor takes several months to grow, and the body has” time “to adapt“, argues our interlocutor. In addition, the liver is a” bulky “organ (on average 16 cm high, 28 cm wide and 8 cm thick), so for it to cause symptoms, a liver tumor must reach a certain volume.”For stomach, esophagus or colon cancer, for example, it is swallowing problems (difficulty swallowing) or digestive signs (bloating, blood in the stool …) that can alert us. But in the case of the liver, no food passes into it so the symptoms are more discreet “. As a result, the discovery of liver cancer can be fortuitous, after a biological assessment or screening examinations as part of a chronic liver disease. It is therefore common for the tumor to be discovered at an advanced stage.
At the advanced stage, liver cancer can cause jaundice in the skin or white of the eye, swelling of the abdomen, digestive bleeding, confusion … On the other hand, “Liver cancer does not cause pain. Possibly, the patient can feel a small gravity in the upper right of the abdomen, but that does not hurt. Generally, the patient does not feel mass in the liver. Rather, the doctor will detect a mass in palpation“, describes our specialist.
As we cannot trust the presence of pre-coursing symptoms, patients with liver pathology should be monitored regularly. For example, for a patient who has liver cirrhosis, doctors generally recommend a clinical examination and an ultrasound assessment every 6 months in order to monitor a potential cancerous evolution. About 12,000 new cases of liver cancer are identified each year in France, 76% of which are in men. It causes nearly 9,000 deaths.
Thank you to Dr Renato Lupinacci, visceral and digestive surgeon, Ambroise-Paré hospital. APHP-University Paris Saclay.
