Obesity And Liver Cancer, Is There A Link?

Primary liver cancer is not available in Western countries and is often recorded in Africa and parts of Asia.

In developed countries, primary liver cancer mainly affects middle-aged and elderly people, and 2 times more common in men, then in women. The majority of patients with hematomas are usually already having liver cirrhosis, which is characterized by nodal regeneration of hepatocytes as a result of many years alcohol abuse.

Sometimes hepatomas occur as a complication of hepatitis, acquired during chronic. Both of them is quite common, but as a complication of liver cancer is rare. In Africa and Asia, a primary liver cancer is much broader and may meet on the third and fourth lives a dozen people who have no liver damage as a result of alcohol abuse.

It is believed that the reason for this could be the impact of aflatoxin - the exchange of products of fungi found in grain and beer. There was also a clear link with liver cancer hepatitis. Many bile duct cancers are probably the consequence of liver fluke invasion.

Besides, some people think that there is a link between obesity and liver cancer. A group of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Medical School, the University of California, Los Angeles (USA) argue that obesity is an even stronger risk factor for liver cancer than cirrhosis. That is disappointing, scientists have concluded, after reviewing the results of their multicentered, randomized, and in some cases, pathological studies.

At the same time, assessed the presence and degree of liver fat transformation accompanying obesity in more than 80% of cases. It was found that more than half of patients (at 26), had a higher body mass index, while 18 had signs of fat hepatitis. After analyzing the delayed results in 10 years from the start of the project, the scientists concluded that the trend would continue. Moreover, with age the number of people with excess weight has been growing steadily, and compensatory ability of the liver are reduced, which further underlines the impartial connect.

As an output, and an explanation of the authors propose the following concept: the resulting fatty degeneration of liver are regarded as precancerous conditions. At the same time there are rapid proliferation, i.e. growth and development of cells of the liver, and inhibition of programmed death, or apoptosis - the process of protecting the rule of tumors. These processes are likely to self-stimulate neogenesis, i.e. the growth of tumor cells.

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