As with some other types of cancer, you can take some important steps to prevent liver cancer. Avoiding exposure to the hepatitis B and C viruses is the best way to reduce your risk. There is a vaccine for hepatitis B, and doctors recommend that children and those at high risk for developing the virus be vaccinated. Limiting alcohol consumption is another way that you can prevent liver cancer. As with most cancers, a healthy diet and regular physical exercise can also help lower your risk for developing this kind of cancer.
Viral Hepatitis
Known as a silent disease, viral hepatitis can be present in the body for years and cause no pain or symptoms, and many people may not be aware that they are infected until it is a chronic virus. It is estimated that 1.25 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis B and 350 million worldwide. As many as four million Americans have the hepatitis C virus, of whom 2.7 million are chronically infected.
Viral hepatitis B and C are contracted through physical contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person. Those engaging in unprotected sex, sharing needles, or living with people who are infected with hepatitis B or C are at an increased risk of developing the virus. In many cases, people were infected through blood transfusions administered before 1992 (before blood was routinely screened for the disease). A small number of cases are still associated with recent blood transfusions. These infections are considered so serious that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines in October 1998 that require hospitals to track down and notify anyone who may have received infected blood prior to 1992.
Intravenous drug users may become infected by injecting drugs using unsterilized needles or sharing needles with others. Similarly, tattoos placed in the skin using unsterilized needles can infect a person with the virus.
Early in the infection, hepatitis B can be treated with a combination of antiviral drugs such as interferon-a, lamivudine, and adefovir. Interferon-a and ribavirin are used to treat hepatitis C. In some cases, the virus can be completely eradicated from the bloodstream and eliminated from the body.
If over time, however, the virus goes undetected and untreated, it can lead to very serious liver problems, including chronic hepatitis, liver disease, cirrhosis (an irreversible disease of the liver), and eventually to liver cancer. Doctors recommend that people with hepatitis B or C, or those at high risk for developing hepatitis, be screened regularly for the virus and also for liver cancer. Certain blood tests, such as the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) blood test -- which measures the level of the protein AFP that is produced by the liver -- and regular ultrasound imaging are effective screening tests for primary liver cancer. These tests are generally used only to screen high-risk populations.
