Liver cancer symptoms: Eight signs you may not associate with the disease

Liver cancer symptoms are more likely to be caused by a more common health condition, such as an infection, but getting any symptoms you experience checked out is vital. While it’s also an

uncommon type of cancer, it is considered serious and can have fatal consequences. If the cancer starts in the liver, this is known as primary liver cancer, but if it spreads into another

part of the body this is known as secondary liver cancer. The symptoms of primary liver cancer can be mistaken for less serious conditions, but there are a number signs to be wary of that

can easily be overlooked.

The symptoms of primary liver cancer can be mistaken for less serious conditions

There are eight symptoms of liver cancer listed by Cancer Research UK. These are:

With secondary liver cancer the symptoms may appear slightly differently. These are noted as:

There are a number of risk factors associated with liver cancer - one being alcoholic liver disease.

Liver disease that’s been caused by excess alcohol intake has several stages of severity.

There are three main stages - alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.

Alcoholic fatty liver disease is caused by drinking a large amount of alcohol, even for a few days, and the build-up of fats in the liver.

Alcoholic hepatitis is caused by alcohol misuse over a longer period of time, and cirrhosis is where the liver has become significantly scarred. If the person doesn’t stop drinking at this

stage, they have a less than 50 per cent chance of living for at least five more years.

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If you are healthy, eat a balanced diet and take regular exercise, sensible drinking should not cause liver problems.

The Department of Health advises that both men and women should not regularly drink more than 14 units in a week.

It is also advisable to take 48 consecutive hours off drinking a week to allow your liver to recover.

If the liver becomes severely damaged symptoms of alcohol-related liver disease may begin to show. According to the NHS, there are seven signs to watch for. 

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