More and more people are suffering from liver cancer

Evaluation: More and more people are suffering from liver cancer

On the occasion of the German Liver Day (20 November), the health insurance company DAK announces that more and more people throughout Germany are suffering from liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). Citing the figures of the Federal Statistical Office, the DAK stated that the number of liver cancer cases has increased significantly in recent years in both Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Up to 50 percent increase in liver cancer treatments
According to the DAK, the number of hospital-based hospitalizations in Saxony-Anhalt increased by 37 percent between 2004 and 2008 to a total of 627 cases. In the same period, the number of hospital treatment of liver cancer patients in the Free State of Thuringia increased by 45 percent (428 cases in total). In North Rhine-Westphalia, the DAK presented figures for the period from 2000 to 2008, which showed that the number of liver cancer-related hospital treatments increased by almost 50 percent to 3,204 cases. More than 75 percent of those affected were male in all three federal states.

5,000 new cases annually
Altogether, around 5,000 people develop liver cancer every year, according to the DAK, with 90 percent of the diseases being associated with cirrhosis of the liver. This is different. Risk factors such as alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise or diabetes mellitus are triggered. The so-called fatty liver is considered a risk factor for the development of liver cancer. This is a very common disease of the according to expert estimates, for example. 25% of the adult western population are affected. A fatty liver is characterized by the incorporation of the so-called neutral fats in the liver cells, where the liver becomes fat when more fats are produced or fed to the body than it can break down.

Liver cancer: „creeping danger“
Liver cancer is „a creeping danger, as the liver does not hurt and many people therefore do not know that their liver is ill, "said the board member of the German Society for the Control of Diseases of the Stomach, Intestine and Liver, as well as Disorders of Metabolism and Nutrition (Gastroenterology). Liga) eV, Peter Galle: Malignant hepatic cell-derived disease, often referred to as hepatocellular carcinoma, is often recognized very late, and early diagnosis of liver dysfunction, which is considered to be a risk factor for liver cancer, could lead to worse conditions However, avoided or more promising therapy be treated. (fp, 17.11.2010)