Rising cases of liver cancer: Crucial signs to watch for

There are many causes of liver cancer—one of them is alcohol consumption. Obesity and smoking also significantly increase the risk. The disease can be difficult to detect in the early stages, but it's important to pay attention to certain signals that may indicate its development.

According to information from the British organisation Cancer Research UK, which promotes cancer awareness and supports research in this field, one of the more obvious symptoms of liver cancer can be visible changes in the abdominal area. Importantly, there are a few very characteristic symptoms.

The presence of cancer can be indicated by various symptoms, from chronic abdominal pain, bloating or ascites, to the appearance of a lump or swelling on the right side of the abdomen. This is often accompanied by loss of appetite or a quick feeling of fullness. The changes are, therefore, both visible and noticeable.

These symptoms may also be accompanied by pain in the right shoulder because the liver can affect the nerves leading to the shoulder. This information may be surprising to many.

However, these are not the only reasons to suspect the potential development of cancer. Other symptoms of liver cancer include:

• weight loss,
• jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes,
• persistent fatigue,
• itching of the skin (itching is sometimes the first noticeable symptom in a patient!).

When such symptoms occur, it is recommended that bilirubin levels in the blood be checked as soon as possible. This test can be done practically from one day to the next. The normal range for adults is 3 to 19 micromoles per litre, and exceeding it can indicate various ailments, including liver cancer.