Continual Hiccups May Result from Liver Cancer

Hiccups at times are no wonder in our daily life, but do you know frequently continual hiccups may indicate liver cancer? An old man suddenly developed continual hiccups months ago and it improved through symptomatic treatment while it appeared still now and then, seriously affects his normal life. Once again, he came to hospital while the image test found that his left lobe of liver had a tumor measuring 3 cm×3cm, needing immediate treatment, otherwise, the tumor would spread.

The diagnosis found that his continual hiccups resulted from tumor causing enlargement of the liver, stimulating diaphragm, leading to spasm. Besides, it is clinically found that patients with esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, or cardiac cancer will also develop continual hiccups.

If Developing Long-term Hiccups Look out Symptoms of Liver Cancer

It takes about 2 years from the first liver cancer cell to cause subjective symptoms of patients. During this period, most of the patients do not develop any symptoms and only a few patients will appear loss of appetite, upper abdominal bulging, abdominal pain, fatigue, and other may have mild hepatomegaly, jaundice and skin itch. However, these symptoms are difficult to be valued by people, so when detected, the disease often has been in advanced.

1.Pain in the upper right section of the abdomen: Continuous or intermittent dull/bulging pain in the upper right section of the abdomen is the most common symptom of primary liver cancer, which is caused by rapid growth of liver cancer tendering liver capsule or invading disphragmatic muscle and the pain can extend to right should or back. When the cancer grows to right rear, patient will feel pain in right waist. Tumors growing toward rear right can cause pain in right waist. When severe abdominal pain and symptoms of peritoneal irritation develop suddenly, it indicates bleeding under capsule of cancer nodule

2. Gastrointestinal symptoms: loss of appetite, indigestion, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but these symptoms are very common thus are easy to be neglected.

3. Fever: Generally patients are manifested as low heat, occasionally above 39℃. It can be continuous fever, afternoon low fever or remittent fever. The reason is related to absorption of products of cancer necrosis. Or it may be result of cholangitis or concurrent infection caused by malignant tumors pressing bile duct.

Liver cancer specialist from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou reminds that hiccup is generally caused by too fast swallowing food, eating spicy food, gastric peristalsis delayed, or eating too much food and it will disappear naturally in a few minutes. However, if continual hiccups last too long time, you should go to a regular hospital for check as soon as possible, especially the elderly with decreased immunity and function of organs should beware of tumor.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.