Many imaging modalities are used to aid in the diagnosis of liver cancer. For HCC these include medical ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When imaging the liver with ultrasound, large lesions are likely to be HCC (e.g., a mass greater than 2 cm has more than 95% chance of being HCC).Given the blood flow to the liver, HCC would be most visible when the contrast flows through the arteries of the liver (also called the arterial phase) rather than when the contrast flows through the veins (also called the venous phase). Sometimes doctors will get a liver biopsy, if they are worried about HCC and the imaging studies (CT or MRI) do not have clear results. The majority of cholangiocarcimas occur in the hilar region of the liver, and often present as bile duct obstruction. If the cause of obstruction is suspected to be malignant, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), ultrasound, CT, MRI and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) are used. Tumor markers, chemicals sometimes found in the blood of people with cancer, can be helpful in diagnosing and monitoring the course of liver cancers. High levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in the blood can be found in many cases of HCC and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Of note, AFP is most useful for monitoring if liver cancers come back after treatment rather than for initial diagnosis. Cholangiocarcinoma can be detected with these commonly used tumor markers: carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125). These tumor markers are found in primary liver cancers, as well as in other cancers and certain other disorders.
complications of Hepatitis
medical cause of Hepatitis
complications of Cirrhosis
complications of Cholera
medical cause of Liver cancer
complications of Amoebiasis
medical cause of Cirrhosis
complications of Acute liver failure