If you visit your doctor, they will ask about your symptoms, when they started, and when they are noticeable. They will also examine you.
If they feel you need further tests, they will refer you to a hospital specialist. Some of the tests you may have are described below.
If you are in a high-risk group for developing liver cancer, regular screening – known as surveillance – is often recommended. This is because the earlier the cancer is diagnosed, the greater the chance there is of curing it.
Surveillance is usually carried out every six months and often involves:
Surveillance is usually recommended if you have cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), although there are other factors that can also affect your risk of liver cancer.
The potential benefits of surveillance should be discussed with you before you enter any screening programme.
The tests above can also be used to look for liver cancer in people who are not being routinely screened.
If these initial tests suggest there is a chance you could have liver cancer, one or more further tests will usually be recommended to confirm the diagnosis.
The further tests include:
After these tests have been carried out, it will usually be possible to confirm a diagnosis of liver cancer and determine the condition’s “stage”.
Staging is a term used to describe how far a particular cancer has spread. There are a number of different systems used to stage liver cancer.
Many liver cancer specialists use combination staging systems that include features of both the cancer and the underlying liver function to stage a person’s condition.
This is because the length of time a person lives and how well they tolerate potential treatments will be determined not only by how advanced their cancer is, but also by their level of health and how good their underlying liver function is.
One combination system for staging liver cancer is known as the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. The BCLC staging system consists of five stages. These are:
Read More ON:
Liver Cancer
Causes of Liver Cancer
Treating Liver Cancer
Bone Cancer
Symptoms of Bone Cancer
Diagnosing Bone Cancer
Treating Bone Cancer
Causes of Bone Cancer
Bowel Cancer
Diagnosing Bowel Cancer
Symptoms of Bowel Cancer
Causes of Bowel Cancer
Bowel Cancer Screening
Treating Bowel Cancer
Preventing Bowel Cancer
Living With Bowel Cancer
Bladder Cancer
Symptoms of Bladder Cancer
Causes of Bladder Cancer
Diagnosing Bladder Cancer
Treatment of Bladder Cancer
Preventing Bladder Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Symptoms of Prostate Cancer
Causes of Prostate Cancer
Diagnosing Prostate Cancer
Treating Prostate Cancer
SOURCE: NHS UK
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cancer-of-the-liver/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx