Table of contents:
- What is primary liver cancer?
- Then, how can hepatitis B cause primary liver cancer?
- Signs that you have liver cancer
- The importance of living screening heart cancer
- How to treat liver cancer
Worldwide, chronic hepatitis infection is the cause of 80% of primary liver cancers, and 500,000 of them die each year from this deadly cancer. To date, only 10% of primary liver cancer sufferers can survive up to 5 years. Isn't that awful?
The good news is that currently a vaccine that is effective against hepatitis B has been found. In fact, the hepatitis B vaccine is the first vaccine that is also known as an anti-cancer vaccine, because overcoming hepatitis B also means tackling primary liver cancer caused by hepatitis B In addition, there are effective therapies available to control and help people with chronic hepatitis B avoid liver cancer. But unfortunately, this vaccine cannot help protect against liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis C.
What is primary liver cancer?
There are 2 types of cancer that can occur in the liver, the first is called primary liver cancer, and the other is called secondary liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is liver cancer that does originate from the liver, often this type of cancer is referred to as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Meanwhile, secondary liver cancer is liver cancer that originates from other organs of the body and then spreads to the liver. Worldwide, primary liver cancer is the third most common cancer causing death.
Then, how can hepatitis B cause primary liver cancer?
People who are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus are very susceptible to liver cancer. In fact, people who are already infected with hepatitis B have a 100 times higher risk of developing liver cancer than people who are not infected with hepatitis B. This occurs because the hepatitis B virus directly and continuously attacks the liver, which over time can cause damage to the liver and ultimately liver cancer.
The risk of developing liver cancer due to chronic hepatitis B increases even more when the patient is older, or the patient has also been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Although liver cancer usually occurs after cirrhosis of the liver appears, it does not mean that liver cirrhosis is the trigger or cause of developing this liver cancer. Primary liver cancer can still occur without the appearance of cirrhosis of the liver.
The risk of developing cancer is even higher if the patient has a family history of liver cancer, high DNA of the hepatitis B virus that continues to attack, is mixed with other infections such as HIV or hepatitis C, and a reckless lifestyle (for example, consuming alcoholic drinks and smoking) . Several studies have also shown that obesity and diabetes can also be a trigger for liver cancer. Liver cancer is more common in men than women, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Signs that you have liver cancer
Liver cancer is often referred to as "silent killer"Because usually, the patient will look perfectly healthy without any signs of health problems until the liver cancer has almost reached its final stage. Sometimes, however large or small the size of the tumor in the liver cannot be detected due to the position of the liver that is protected by the ribs, so that the patient does not feel pain.
Pain occurs very rarely, until the tumor is really large. In end-stage liver cancer, when the tumor is very large and accompanied by deteriorating liver function, new signs of health begin to appear. For example, stomach pain, weight loss, loss of appetite, weakness, yellow eyes and skin, and swollen stomach. People who experience signs like this should immediately contact a doctor for further examination and treatment.
The importance of living screening heart cancer
As already explained, liver cancer kills in secret. Therefore, hepatitis B patients, it is recommended to enter screening liver cancer into their routine medical checkup. Especially for patients who have chronic hepatitis B, screening Liver cancer is very important, because liver cancer can attack without any signs of cirrhosis of the liver beforehand. The sooner liver cancer is detected, the more treatment options you can take, which can help increase your chances of survival.
Screening Liver cancer is done with a blood test to determine the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) every 6 months and ultrasound of the liver every 2 times a year. There are also doctors who choose to do MRI and CT-Scan instead of ultrasound. Once the patient is detected to have cirrhosis of the liver, or his family has a hereditary history of liver cancer, screening liver cancer is routinely recommended.
How to treat liver cancer
In particular, the treatment of liver cancer is more difficult than other types of cancer, because liver cancer is usually accompanied by liver damage caused by the hepatitis B virus. Each patient must individually balance the risk of liver failure, the various treatment options, and the side effects of the drugs. - medicine itself. Existing treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and one drug that can be taken orally. Liver transplantation is the last option if the liver cancer tumor can no longer be "removed" by surgery.
