Medical professionals use many acronyms and abbreviations to streamline communication and enhance efficiency. While practical for clinicians, this specialized language can often present a significant barrier for the general public seeking to understand their health information. This can lead to confusion and misunderstanding, potentially impacting a patient’s ability to engage fully in their care. Understanding common medical acronyms, especially those related to serious health conditions, is important for patients.
What HCC Is
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of primary liver cancer, meaning it originates within the liver. The liver is an organ located in the upper right abdomen, performing essential functions for maintaining overall health. These functions include detoxifying harmful substances, metabolizing nutrients from food, and synthesizing vital proteins necessary for blood clotting and other bodily processes. HCC is a serious condition that can disrupt these functions, leading to significant health challenges.
Understanding Its Causes
HCC development is linked to underlying liver conditions that cause chronic damage and inflammation. Chronic viral hepatitis, particularly infections with Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) viruses, represents a significant risk factor globally. These viruses can persist in the liver for many years, leading to ongoing inflammation that gradually damages liver cells.
Cirrhosis, characterized by severe scarring of the liver, is another major precursor to HCC. This extensive scarring can result from various conditions, including chronic alcohol abuse, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is often associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels, contributes to liver inflammation and fat accumulation, further increasing the risk of cirrhosis and, subsequently, HCC.
How HCC is Identified
Identifying hepatocellular carcinoma often involves a combination of diagnostic approaches, particularly for individuals at higher risk due to chronic liver conditions. Imaging techniques detect liver lesions that may indicate HCC. These include ultrasound, which uses sound waves to create images of the liver, and more detailed scans like computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provide cross-sectional views and help characterize suspicious masses.
Blood tests are also employed, with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) being a common tumor marker associated with HCC. While elevated AFP levels can suggest HCC, this marker is not always conclusive on its own, as other liver conditions can also cause its increase, and some HCCs do not produce AFP. For a definitive diagnosis, a liver biopsy is often performed, where a small tissue sample from the suspicious area is extracted and examined under a microscope by a pathologist. Regular screening for at-risk individuals is important, as early detection improves management options and outcomes.
Approaches to Managing HCC
Managing hepatocellular carcinoma involves a range of strategies, tailored to the patient’s condition, including cancer stage, liver health, and general well-being. For early-stage HCC, surgical removal of the tumor, known as surgical resection, may be an option if the tumor is small and localized, and the liver function is preserved. Liver transplantation offers another curative possibility for select early HCC patients.
Local therapies directly target the tumor within the liver, aiming to destroy cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Examples include radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which uses heat to destroy tumor cells, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), which delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor through the blood vessels, often blocking its blood supply.
For more advanced cases, or when local therapies are not suitable, systemic therapies are used, which work throughout the body to control cancer growth. These include targeted therapies, which block specific pathways involved in cancer development, and immunotherapies, which harness the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer. A medical team carefully considers these options to develop an individualized care plan.