With an examination you can prevent the liver tumor. Why una low concentration in the blood of cholesterol “good”, in patients with liver fat, allows you to understand up to 5 years in advance if you are at risk. «This information allows us to perform punctual and repeated ultrasounds», says Lucilla Crudele, first author of the study supported by Airc Foundation (Italian Association for Cancer Research) and then published in the Journal of Hepatology Reports. «In order to give them indications to change their lifestyle in order to return to an optimal condition to protect themselves and reduce the risk of developing cancer”.
Breast cancer discovered after pregnancy, Laura Borsato dies at the age of 35: she leaves behind her husband and one-year-old son
Liver cancer, how to recognize it, the main causes
The most common liver cancer in people between the ages of 55 and 75 ishepatocellular carcinoma, that develops (usually) in people already affected by cirrhosis. How does it manifest itself? Without symptoms and in subjects without infection, apparently healthy, who, however, already have a pathological condition of steatosis in the liver: that is, an accumulation of fat that can lead to subsequent fibrosis.
How it works, the study and the increase in waistline
The research group coordinated by Professor Antonio Moschetta, at the Aldo Moro University of Bari, examined in particular subjects with liver fibrosis, with a low level of “good” cholesterol. They first carried out tests on several patients and then noticed that those who developed hepatocellular carcinoma in the following five years later showed lower levels of HDL cholesterol initially (for the same liver fibrosis). «Furthermore – says Moschetta, coordinator of the study -, by selecting the patients who then developed cancer among those who five years earlier had low HDL cholesterol, we observed that the latter showed a significant increase in waistlinewhich is a measure of fat deposits in visceral adipose tissue and a sign of inflammation in the body.
Discovery and cures
“Today we know – concludes Lucilla Crudele, first author of the study – that a subject who has fatty liver and low HDL cholesterol associated with an increased waist size has an increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma within the next 5 years”. The discovery that a single blood biomarker can predict the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma well in advance could allow the identification of subjects at risk. And this even before they develop specific symptoms, with targeted drug treatments. Preventing this type of cancer today therefore seems to be possible.
© breaking latest news