Did you know that in your body, you have a three-pound powerhouse of an organ that cleans every milliliter of your blood and performs approximately 500 other functions for your well-being?  The liver, the largest internal organ, continuously filters the toxins from blood as well as grabbing nutrients and drugs from the GI tract to convert them into usable compounds, plus a multitude of other functions. But what happens when cancer damages the liver?

Symptoms of Liver Cancer

Because of the physiology of the liver and its placement in the body, detecting liver cancer early often is difficult. So the disease typically is caught at an advanced state. There is no recommended screening test, but those with a family history of liver cancer or other risk factors should talk to their physicians to work out a monitoring plan. Awareness of the symptoms of liver cancer is helpful for all who are concerned about this illness. Here are 10 signs of liver cancer:

1. Significant and undetermined weight loss. Doctors define a “significant” weight loss as losing ten percent of one’s body weight. This weight loss has no apparent reason.
2. Nausea and vomiting for no discernible reason.
3. Decrease in appetite or feeling full after eating a small meal. This symptom may be due to a mass or swelling in the abdomen.
4. General weakness and fatigue. Due to the disruption of glycogen (body energy) storage by the liver, chronic tiredness can be the result.
5. A persistent fever. Because of the cancer affecting immunological functioning, you may not be able to fight off infections or illnesses easily.
6. Pain in the upper abdomen on the right side of the body or by the right shoulder blade. This pain probably originates because the increased size of the liver places pressure on certain nerves. An enlarged liver stimulates nerves under the diaphragm, creating pain.
   
   

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