Hepatocellular Carcinoma at 10x Magnification

The symptoms of hepatocellular carcinoma most commonly include the yellowing of the skin and eyes known as jaundice, an enlarged, often painful or tender, abdomen, and easy bruising and bleeding of the skin. Such symptoms can also, however, be indicative of a number of other conditions and, therefore, many other signs are used by physicians to develop a diagnosis. An elevation of serum alpha-fetoprotein levels or liver enzymes, for instance, is often associated with liver cancer, and diagnostic imaging techniques, including ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, can be used to demonstrate the presence of a liver mass. Findings from testing and imaging are generally either confirmed or refuted by biopsy.