Symptoms

Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of primary liver cancer. When signs and symptoms do appear, they may include:

• Losing weight without trying
• Loss of appetite
• Upper abdominal pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• General weakness and fatigue
• Abdominal swelling
• Yellow discoloration of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
• White, chalky stools

Diagnosis

Liver biopsy

Tests and procedures used to diagnose liver cancer include:

• Blood tests. Blood tests may reveal liver function abnormalities.
• Imaging tests. Your doctor may recommend imaging tests, such as an ultrasound, CT and MRI.
• Removing a sample of liver tissue for testing. Sometimes it’s necessary to remove a piece of liver tissue for laboratory testing in order to make a definitive diagnosis of liver cancer.

  During a liver biopsy, your doctor inserts a thin needle through your skin and into your liver to obtain a tissue sample. In the lab, doctors examine the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells. Liver biopsy carries a risk of bleeding, bruising and infection.

Liver Cancer Treatment

Liver Cancer Treatments for primary liver cancer depend on the extent (stage) of the disease as well as your age, overall health, and personal preferences.

Surgery

Operations used to liver cancer treatment include:

• Surgery to remove the tumor. In certain situations, your doctor may recommend an operation to remove the liver cancer and a small portion of healthy liver tissue that surrounds it if your tumor is small and your liver function is good.Whether this is an option for you also depends on the location of your cancer within the liver, how well your liver functions and your overall health.
• Liver transplant surgery. During liver transplant surgery, your diseased liver is removed and replaced with a healthy liver from a donor. Liver transplant surgery is only an option for a small percentage of people with early-stage liver cancer.

Targeted drug therapy

• Targeted drug treatments focus on specific abnormalities present within cancer cells. By blocking these abnormalities, targeted drug treatments can cause cancer cells to die.
• Many targeted drugs are available for treating advanced liver cancer.
• Some targeted therapies only work in people whose cancer cells have certain genetic mutations. Your cancer cells may be tested in a laboratory to see if these drugs might help you.

Immunotherapy

• • Immunotherapy uses your immune system to fight cancer. Your body’s disease- fighting immune system may not attack your cancer because the cancer cells produce proteins that blind the immune system cells. Immunotherapy works by interfering with that process.
  • Immunotherapy treatments are generally reserved for people with advanced liver cancer.

Chemotherapy

• • • Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill rapidly growing cells, including cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be administered through a vein in your arm, in pill form or both.
    • Chemotherapy is sometimes used to treat advanced liver cancer.

Supportive (palliative) care

• Palliative care is specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care specialists work with you, your family and your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support that complements your ongoing care. Palliative care can be used while undergoing other aggressive treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
• When palliative care is used along with all of the other appropriate treatments, people with cancer may feel better and live longer.
• Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specially trained professionals. Palliative care teams aim to improve the quality of life for people with cancer and their families. This form of care is offered alongside curative or other treatments you may be receiving.