September 14, 2012

Natural History of Liver Cancer


related (eg cirrhosis) at the time of diagnosis. For example, a patient with a tumor 1 cm with no cirrhosis had an opportunity three-year survival greater than 50%, even without treatment. In contrast, a patient with many tumors involving both lobes (lobe) liver (multicentric tumors) with decompensated cirrhosis (signs of liver failure) is not likely last more than six months to live, even with treatment.


Our knowledge of the prognosis based on studying many patients with liver cancer, clinical characteristics separating them, and connect them to the outcome. Grouped in various categories, clinical findings are less well include:

• The characteristics of the population (demographic): male gender, older age, or alcohol consumption.
• The symptoms: weight loss and decreased appetite.
• Signs of liver dysfunction: jaundice, ascites, or encephalopathy (altered mental state).
• Blood tests: liver tests increase (bilirubin or transaminase), reduced albumin, elevated AFP, elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum sodium or low.
• Creating a level of tumor (based on the findings of imaging or surgery): more than one tumor, tumor more than 3 cm, tumor invasion of local blood vessels (portal vein and / or hepatic vein), tumor spread beyond the liver ( to the nodes or the spleen of other organs).

There are various systems to create a level of liver cancer. Some systems consider clinical findings while others rely solely on pathological characteristics. Most sense to use a system that incorporates a combination of elements of clinical and pathological. In any event, it is important to establish the cancer by making degree can provide clues not only to predict the final outcome (prognosis) but also for decisions about care.

Doubling time for a cancerous tumor is the time required to double its size. For liver cancer, the doubling time is highly variable, ranging from one month to eighteen months. The diversity of this kind tells us that every patient with liver cancer is unique. Therefore, an assessment of the natural history and evaluation of different treatments is very difficult. Nonetheless, in patients with a liver cancer that is itself less than 3 cm, with no maintenance, we can expect that 90% of patients will live for one year, 50% for three years, and 20% for five years . In patients with more advanced disease, we can expect that 30% will live for one year, 8% for three years, and none for five years.
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Natural History of Liver Cancer


related (eg cirrhosis) at the time of diagnosis. For example, a patient with a tumor 1 cm with no cirrhosis had an opportunity three-year survival greater than 50%, even without treatment. In contrast, a patient with many tumors involving both lobes (lobe) liver (multicentric tumors) with decompensated cirrhosis (signs of liver failure) is not likely last more than six months to live, even with treatment.


Our knowledge of the prognosis based on studying many patients with liver cancer, clinical characteristics separating them, and connect them to the outcome. Grouped in various categories, clinical findings are less well include:

• The characteristics of the population (demographic): male gender, older age, or alcohol consumption.
• The symptoms: weight loss and decreased appetite.
• Signs of liver dysfunction: jaundice, ascites, or encephalopathy (altered mental state).
• Blood tests: liver tests increase (bilirubin or transaminase), reduced albumin, elevated AFP, elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum sodium or low.
• Creating a level of tumor (based on the findings of imaging or surgery): more than one tumor, tumor more than 3 cm, tumor invasion of local blood vessels (portal vein and / or hepatic vein), tumor spread beyond the liver ( to the nodes or the spleen of other organs).

There are various systems to create a level of liver cancer. Some systems consider clinical findings while others rely solely on pathological characteristics. Most sense to use a system that incorporates a combination of elements of clinical and pathological. In any event, it is important to establish the cancer by making degree can provide clues not only to predict the final outcome (prognosis) but also for decisions about care.

Doubling time for a cancerous tumor is the time required to double its size. For liver cancer, the doubling time is highly variable, ranging from one month to eighteen months. The diversity of this kind tells us that every patient with liver cancer is unique. Therefore, an assessment of the natural history and evaluation of different treatments is very difficult. Nonetheless, in patients with a liver cancer that is itself less than 3 cm, with no maintenance, we can expect that 90% of patients will live for one year, 50% for three years, and 20% for five years . In patients with more advanced disease, we can expect that 30% will live for one year, 8% for three years, and none for five years.