This book describes Hepatic Cancer, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Cancer you are a deadly disease

On our tissues you choose to feast

By staying in our bodies deep

And invading our organs you cowardly creep

You have taken mothers, daughters, brothers

Fathers, friends and life long lovers

We will fight back to give remedy

To bring back the immune harmony

Hope and Faith we must restore

For all victims who suffer the cancer foe

Help the body and soul join together

To seek peace and fight forever

The legions of the cancer cells with smirks on their faces

We must fight and strengthen each time you attack our bases

To ensure that your cancer existence will soon expire

And ensure our scarred body a good fight to inspire

As we continue this quest we have started

And remember those of us who have departed

So smirk and smile you killer of man

Enjoy your glory while you can

We will remove the smirk from your face

When you realize this is your final and only race

We have cornered you, your race is run

All our cells unite to finish what we have begun

We will fight to the death this awful scourge of man

And clobber this cowardly cancer in the end

We shall clobber this mutant beast

No more our flesh for you to feast

These were days filled with anger

Sad days to be in so much danger

As the days and months went on

Our cells started getting strong

And as we learned to cope

We discovered the meaning of hope.

And we have our friends and family to thank

You are all our angels so much our friend

An original poem by Kenneth Kee

Cancer is the top killer in Singapore and many countries.

It is therefore feared by many patients who equate cancer with death.

Now however with modern treatments and new advances, cancer can be prevented and successfully treated.

Primary liver cancer is a rare but serious type of cancer that starts in the liver and mostly affects older people.

Hepatic cancer happens when the cells in the liver undergo abnormal changes to form cancer cells.

In most cases, the cause of primary hepatic cancer is scarring of the liver (cirrhosis).

Cirrhosis (liver damage that can make scar tissue replace healthy tissue) may be caused by:

Alcohol abuse

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - a buildup of fat in the liver in obese people

Autoimmune diseases of the liver

Long-term hepatitis B or C - viruses that attack and damage the liver

Inflammation of the liver from exposure to toxins (alfatoxins, solvents, vinyl chloride, heroin)

Iron overload in the body (hemochromatosis)

Inherited liver diseases

Symptoms:

Unexplained weight loss

Nausea or vomiting

Feeling of fullness easily or not wanting to eat

Tiredness and weakness

Feeling of pain on the upper right abdomen or near the right shoulder

Swelling in the abdomen

In patients with raised AFP and consistent imaging features, patients can be diagnosed and treated presumptively for hepatic cancer without a biopsy

Liver transplant is the best treatment for patients with hepatic cancer.

The supply of good-quality deceased-donor organs is limited.

A small part of the liver of a living relative may be used.

Other treatments, such as resection, radiofrequency ablation (RFA); and possibly systemic therapy should be given to bridge patients to transplant or to delay recurrence if possible.

The most frequent therapy is called transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Targeted therapy such as kinase inhibitors is used in advanced unresectable liver cancer.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction

Chapter 1 Hepatic Cancer

Chapter 2 Causes

Chapter 3 Symptoms

Chapter 4 Diagnosis

Chapter 5 Treatment

Chapter 6 Prognosis

Chapter 7 Pancreatic Cancer

Chapter 8 Cancer

Epilogue