Factors that increase the risk of liver cancer

The risk of liver cancer increases with obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking, and chronic viral hepatitis.

Liver cancer develops when normal cells in the liver grow uncontrollably and appear abnormal in both morphology and function. Liver cancer cells grow to affect adjacent tissues, destroy other healthy liver cells, and interfere with the vital functions of this organ.

Doctor, Dr. Vu Truong Khanh, Head of Gastroenterology - Hepatobiliary - Pancreatic Department, Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi, said that early detection of liver cancer is important. Because early stage liver cancer can be cured by many methods such as surgery, radiofrequency ablation, microwaves. However, at the late stage, the tumors are too large or metastasized, only adjuvant treatment can be used to limit the progression of the disease.

Although not a direct cause of liver cancer, risk factors do influence the development of the disease. Here are some common factors that everyone should be aware of.

Smoke

A 2017 study by the University Hospital of Bern (Switzerland) surveyed 238 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including 64 smokers and 174 non-smokers. Through analysis, the mortality rate in smokers with this type of cancer is higher than in patients who do not smoke. The more tobacco used and the longer the duration of smoking, the higher the risk of liver cancer. The International Cancer Organization (Globocan) ranks smoking as one of the factors that increase the risk of liver cancer.

Alcohol addiction

Many people get liver cancer because of their drinking habits . All the ethanol in alcohol consumed in the body is converted into acetaldehyde, which is toxic to liver cells. Dr. Khanh cited a number of studies showing that, in most people with alcoholic fatty liver disease, 10-35% have alcoholic hepatitis. About 20-40% of people with alcoholic hepatitis develop cirrhosis. Over 20% of people with alcoholic fatty liver disease progress directly to cirrhosis. People with cirrhosis often have a high risk of liver cancer .

Heavy drinking increases the risk of liver cancer. Photo: Shutterstock.

Chronic viral hepatitis

Dr. Khanh added that chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major risk factor for liver cancer. According to a study by the German University, published in the American Library of Medicine in 2017, there are about 1.3 million deaths worldwide each year from HCC progressing from chronic viral hepatitis. The majority of hepatitis virus-associated HCC cases develop from cirrhosis. However, there are cases of hepatitis B infection progressing to hepatocellular carcinoma without necessarily having a previous background of end-stage cirrhosis.

If concurrently infected with hepatitis B and C, the patient has a high risk of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. The risk is even higher if they regularly drink alcohol.

Cirrhosis

Most patients with liver cancer progress from cirrhosis. Dr. Khanh said that in Vietnam, cirrhosis is one of the common risk factors for liver cancer. In which, cirrhosis due to co-infection with hepatitis B and C; Hepatitis B and D increase the risk of HCC 2-6 times more than individual infections. In the absence of hepatitis B and C, the incidence of HCC was lower in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and in patients with advanced biliary cirrhosis.

Fat

In obese people, excess fat accumulates in the liver, leading to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which then leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Non-alcoholic fatty liver is one of the risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. According to the scientific journal Sciencedirect (USA) in 2021, about 41.2% of liver cancer patients who develop from nonalcoholic fatty liver will die.

Type 2 diabetes

People with type 2 diabetes often tend to be overweight and obese, so they are more prone to liver diseases such as fatty liver or cirrhosis. People with type 2 diabetes have a high risk of developing this type of cancer when they have chronic viral hepatitis at the same time or have a habit of consuming alcohol for a long time.

Eating moldy cereal

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by certain species of aspergillus that grows on cereal grains, oilseeds and tuber products. In particular, moldy peanuts will produce aflatoxin B1 - the most toxic type, easily causing liver cancer. Everyone, especially people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, avoid eating moldy grains.

Age, gender

Statistics from Globocan 2020 show that, in Vietnam, the rate of liver cancer in men is 20.5%, nearly 3 times higher than in women with 7.4%. According to Dr. Khanh, the main reason for this disparity comes from different lifestyles. While men have a habit of smoking, drinking a lot of alcohol and rarely having regular health checkups, the majority of women are more interested in health care. Elderly people are more susceptible to liver damage than young people, so the rate of this disease is also higher. In the United States, primary liver cancer usually occurs in people over 60 years of age.

Dr. Khanh recommends that, to reduce the risk of liver cancer, children and adults need to be vaccinated against hepatitis B according to the right regimen; treat diseases such as viral hepatitis, diabetes... before they develop into liver cancer. Limit alcohol consumption, stop smoking, maintain a healthy diet and weight, exercise to improve health. People at high risk for liver cancer should be screened every 6 months to have a better chance of diagnosing the disease at an early stage.

In order to help people update screening methods to detect and new techniques to effectively treat cirrhosis and liver cancer, Tam Anh General Hospital System organizes a Counseling Week program "Early detection, treatment with new techniques for cirrhosis and liver cancer" from September 15-21, 2022. The program was attended by a team of leading experts in the fields of Gastroenterology, Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology. Readers send questions here to be answered in detail by experts in the program.