Most of abdominal cancer are readily diagnosed by symptoms such as vomiting, gastrointestinal bleed and basic investigations such as endocscopy, colonoscopy and ultrasound..by virtue of their unique anatomical location liver and pancreatic tumors are usually missed by these investigations and need specific tests like MRCP, ERCP and endoscopic ultrasound. Their symptoms are also subtle and diagnosis needs a high degree of suspicion and expertise.
Symptoms of early cancer are usually subtle include anorexia, vague abdominal discomfort and by the time overt symptoms develop cancers are usually in an advanced stage. Jaundice can be presenting symptom in HPB cancers but many patients reach referral centres late after several trials of native medicine without diagnosis. It is not un common to find a patient who has had several ultrasounds and endoscopies for abdominal pain and told that he only ‘Acid” or ‘Gas and by the time he reaches a specialist the imaging shows advanced pancreatic cancers
Patients with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) have a high risk for liver cancer and need 6 monthly imaging and blood tests to detect early cancer. Patients with BMI more than 30, diabetes and fatty liver are at a higher risk for liver disease and liver cancer. Smoking, Obesity, fatty liver and sedentary life style predispose to pancreatic cancer. Chronic pancreatitis secondary to alcoholism and tropical pancreatitis common in India also increases risk for pancreatic cancer.
Copyright © 2022 Dr. Sunil Kumar Rawat. All Rights Reserved.
