Not long ago, a good friend called and said that his father had a CT examination in the hospital. He thought that liver cancer was likely and asked me what to do. I am not a hepatobiliary surgeon, but as his doctor friend, he hoped I could give some advice.
I asked him to send me the film and the report. When I looked at it, I gasped. If it was liver cancer, it was a large liver cancer with unclear boundaries. Looking at the report again, I basically thought it was a large liver cancer with a diameter of about 10 cm.
I asked him, [Is there anything wrong with your father? ]
He said, it’s nothing, even in the past half month, I feel that my appetite is not good and I feel that I have lost weight. When I came to the hospital for an examination, I found out such a big problem. He is very lost, which is very natural. This kind of taste is not good for anyone.
I asked him again, [what did the doctor say? ]
His voice is a little hoarse, [the doctor said that there may be no chance of surgical removal, his condition is very serious, and he may not be able to carry the Spring Festival.]
Since the hospital he visited is the largest 3A hospital in the area and the level of hepatobiliary surgery is first-class, I have nothing to say. His doctor in charge certainly knows better than I do.
He finally succumbed to his emotions and burst into tears at the other end of the phone.
After hanging up the phone, my mood could not calm down for a long time. When my old father brought up some of their siblings and was ready to take care of themselves, this kind of bad news came. It was really a tragedy in my life.
A month later, my friend sent me a message saying that his father left last night.
Sad, somehow, I recalled a patient I met in 2011, with similar experiences and similar outcomes. It was a farmer in his 50s, simple, who was admitted to hospital for 2 weeks due to pain in the upper right part of his stomach. The admission examination of abdominal B-ultrasound showed large liver cancer, and the CT examination results were also consistent, with a diameter of 8 cm.
On the same day, they went through the discharge formalities. When they were discharged from the hospital, the patient himself gave me an apple, saying that he thanked me for my care since this period of time and hoped that I would be safe. At that moment, I felt very cowardly. Pale comfort and weak farewell. Later, I never saw them again. I don’t know how they are now. I must be in danger.
Why is liver cancer the king of cancer?
1. High degree of malignancy
It is said that liver cancer is the “king of cancer”, mainly because of its high degree of malignancy. Therefore, after being diagnosed as liver cancer, the survival time is relatively short.
Of course, there are also more malignant tumors, but among the tumors more common than liver cancer, few are worse than liver cancer…
2. Lack of early performance
The early stage of liver cancer lacks typical clinical manifestations. Once symptoms and signs (such as typical [stomachache], or yellow and black skin, emaciation, etc.) appear, it often enters the middle and late stage.
If we can find it early, deal with it as soon as possible and prevent it from growing up, then there may be a turn for the better. However, when the vast majority of liver cancer is discovered, it has already been delayed to the middle or late stage and the opportunity for surgery has been lost.
3. It is easy to relapse and metastasize.
A normal liver needs to continuously process all the blood in the body, so blood vessels extend in all directions and are very rich in blood flow. These blood vessels just become the best carrier for liver cancer to metastasize outward.
How to prevent the terrible liver cancer?
We have no way to prevent the occurrence of liver cancer, but we have a way to find it out at the early stage of liver cancer. Data show that the effect of surgical treatment for early small liver cancer is very good-about three quarters of the people can live for more than 5 years after resection.
On the premise that we cannot completely cure cancer, early detection and treatment are our fundamental strategies.
Friends, find a time to bring your wife and family and have a physical examination.
Liver and kidney function, blood routine, chest radiograph, abdominal B-ultrasound, tumor markers and so on do not take long to complete, and the cost is not particularly expensive, and these are exactly the best means to prevent this [king of cancer]!
Liver cancer, it goes fast, and once it accelerates, it cannot be pulled.
We hope to hold it down before it accelerates!