A large number of world oncologists confirmed that liver cancer is ranked third among causes of death globally, pointing out that the disease affects men three times more than women. During the international scientific conference being held in the German capital of Berlin to reveal a recently-discovered drug to help recover from liver cancer, they said the incidence of the disease reached high levels in a large number of States. However, this rate is decreasing in the US.
Tumors are often "silent" in this disease and not accompanied by any symptoms. Such tumors are discovered accidentally by sonar waves or by a sudden rise in the tumor markers analysis. Some 57,000 people die of liver cancer in Europe; 322,000 in China; 360,000 in Japan; and 13,000 cases in the United States, the oncologists said, pointing out that its danger lies in the fact that it is one of the most serious causes of death in a short time. Its victims are usually over fifty. Robert Rosen, director of cancer diseases in a German company, said liver cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer. It causes some 90% of primary malignant liver tumors among adults. Most cases of this type of cancer develop badly, as its symptoms appear only in later stages. Asked how to prevent liver cancer, head of Cancer Diseases Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh Dr Shawki Bazarbashi said that there are three types of liver cancer; liver cell cancer, bile tract cancer, and cancer of the liver blood. The latter two types are less widespread.
There is a fourth type of cancer through blood and lymph vessels from a cancerous tumor in any other part of the body such as the stomach, colon, breast and lung which settles in the liver.
Prevention is the first step of treatment, as we should avoid the causes of the disease, Bazarbashi said, calling for vaccination against hepatitis virus B and treatment of chronic hepatitis (B,C). He also called on patients to undergo sound waves and check the percentage of Alfaphetoprotein in blood for early diagnosis. He also called on people not to smoke or drink alcohol and drugs, especially hormonal drugs.
For his part, head of the World Federation of Liver Tumors Gamal Esmat said a new medicine called Isorafinib has been discovered for treating cancer. The medicine, a pill given orally, is a breakthrough in the treatment of liver cancer cells, whose victims die after five years.
