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Symptoms of Liver Cancer
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Liver cancer is a silent tumor, as its symptoms usually appear when the disease is already advanced or in the case of complications.
It is most commonly detected through abnormalities found in imaging tests (such as ultrasound) performed for other reasons or when individuals participate in liver cancer screening programs.
The most common symptoms of liver cancer are:
Tiredness. Tiredness is a typical symptom in patients with chronic liver disease, consequently a sudden worsening of this symptom is cause to suspect the presence of a liver tumour.
Increase in abdominal girth. Liver cancer can be associated with abdominal fluid retention (called ascites) that manifests as an increase in abdominal circumference.
Jaundice. In advanced stages, patients often develop a yellow discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes.
Abdominal pain. Only the liver’s surrounding capsule has sensitive nerve endings, which means that as long as tumour growth is limited to inside the liver, it rarely causes any pain. However, when it penetrates outside the capsule or the abnormal growth causes distension, patients will generally notice a constant, low-intensity abdominal pain.
Loss of appetite and weight loss. These symptoms are indicative of an advanced tumour.
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Substantiated information by:
Alejandro Forner González
Jordi Bruix Tudo
María Reig Monzón
Neus Llarch Alfonso
Published: 13 May 2020
Updated: 17 July 2025
The donations that can be done through this webpage are exclusively for the benefit of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona through Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and not for BBVA Foundation, entity that collaborates with the project of PortalClínic.
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