Liver Cancer Essays - Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Health, RTT

Liver Cancer Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All forms of cancer cause cells in the body to change and grow in an abnormal way. Normal body cells divide and grow in an orderly fashion. But cells changed by cancer can divide and grow out of control. This out-of-control-growth damages normal body tissues and disrupts the ability of organs to function, as they should. During the early years of a person's life, normal cells divide rapidly until adult size is reached. After that, normal cells of most tissues divide only to replace worn-out tissue and to repair injuries. Cancer cells, however, continue to grow. Often the cells form tumors (lumps) that compress, invade, and destroy normal tissue. Unless the cancer is treated, the tumors can grow and spread. If cells break away from such a tumor, they can travel through the bloodstream or the lymph system to other areas of the body. There, they may settle and form "colony" tumors. In their new location, the cancerous cells begin growing again. The spread of a tumor to a new site is called metastasis. Leukemia, a form of cancer, does not usually form a tumor. Instead, cancer cells invade the blood and blood-forming organs (spleen, lymphatic system, and bone marrow). It is important to realize that not all tumors are cancerous. Benign tumors, which stay in one place and have limited growth, is usually not life threatening. Cancer is classified by the part of the body in which it develops, by its appearance under the microscope, and by the results of a laboratory test. Since cancer is not a single disease, each type of cancer behaves differently. What's more, different cancers also respond in various ways to different types of treatment. That's why people with cancer need treatment that is aimed at their specific forms of the disease. In America, half of all men and on third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime. Cancer is not necessarily fatal, however. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have been cured. And the risk of developing many types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person's lifestyle. The sooner a cancer is found, and the sooner treatment begins, the better a patient's chances are of a cure. What is Liver Cancer? The liver is the largest internal organ of the body. It weighs about 3 pounds and accounts for about 2% of a person's body weight. It is sheltered by the lower right ribs and it is found underneath the right lung, separated from it by a muscle known as the diaphragm. It is shaped like a pyramid and divided into right and left lobes. Each of these lobes is further divided into segments. The liver, unlike most other organs, receives blood form two sources. The hepatic artery supplies the liver with blood that is rich in oxygen. The portal vein carries nutrient-rich blood from the intestines to the liver. Because the liver is involved in many important metabolic functions, a person cannot survive without a liver. Some nutrients and vitamins absorbed by the intestines are stored in the liver until other organs need them. Other nutrients must be metabolized (chemically changed) in the liver before they can be used by the body for energy or to build and repair tissues. Carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism all depend on proper liver function. Blood levels of glucose and controlled by the liver. Glucose is a type of sugar that serves as the main source of energy for most tissues and organs in the body. The lover produces albumin. Albumin is a blood protein with several essential functions that include keeping a proper balance of fluid between tissues and the bloodstream, and transporting many hormones and drugs through the bloodstream. Several clotting factors are made in the liver. Without these factors to plug up damaged blood vessels, even small cuts or scrapes would cause life-threatening bleeding. Without amino acid metabolism by the liver, other tissues of the body could not produce the structural proteins of our bones and connective tissues or enzymes (proteins that regulate nearly all chemical processes of the body). The lover also plays a part on the metabolism of lipids (fats) and makes cholesterol, which is an essential part of the membranes that surround all cells and divide the cells into organelles (specific parts of cells). The liver also inactivates many drugs and toxic chemicals. If the liver is not working well, these substances can build up and interfere with many of the