Because its first symptoms are usually vague, liver cancer is difficult to detect in an early stage. As with other types of cancer, this disease can cause a general feeling of poor health. Liver cancer can lead to loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, fatigue and weakness. As the tumor grows, patients may have pain that begins in the upper abdomen on the right side and reaches into the back and shoulder. Some patients can feel a mass in the upper abdomen.
Liver cancer can also lead to abdominal swelling and a feeling of fullness or bloating.
Patients may have episodes of fever and nausea. Some patients develop jaundice, a condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes become yellow, and the urine may become dark. To make a diagnosis, your doctor takes acomplete medical history, does a careful physical examination and orders certain tests. Special blood tests are used to see how well your liver is functioning. Blood tests can also be used to check for tumor markers, substances often found in abnormal amounts in patients with liver cancer.