Understanding Liver Cancer

The Liver - Normal Liver Functions and Activity

The liver is the largest organ in the body, weighing approximately 1500 grams, which is a little over three pounds. It is reddish brown in color, looking much like the liver on the meat counter. It serves to degrade toxins, synthesize sugars and proteins, produce enzymes that break down foods within the bowel, and to funnel blood from the intestinal tract back to the heart. Blood from the GI tract flows into the liver through the portal vein and hepatic artery and then leaves the liver through the hepatic veins. The waste products and digestive enzymes leave the liver through the biliary tract and are secreted into the upper small intestine after storage in the gallbladder.

The liver sits in the right upper abdominal cavity protected beneath the right rib cage. It has the classical external anatomy of an asymmetric right and left lobe. However, the conventional anatomy of many years ago is much better understood now, through the work of the French hepatic anatomist Claude Couinaud and others. The liver has eight segments under Couinaud’s terminology. Present day techniques of liver surgery are based on in depth understanding of the anatomy of these segments and the distribution of the segmental portal vein, hepatic artery, and bile duct to each individual segment.

The liver is the only organ in the body which can regenerate itself from only a small remnant. If the remaining liver is not diseased, the liver can regrow to an adequate size if only 15 to 20 % is left behind. This fact is key to our present ability to resect or destroy cancerous liver, while still leaving a satisfactory amount of liver behind to handle the body’s metabolic needs.

Learn more about various liver cancer symptoms.

Greek Mythology in Relation to the Liver

The ancient Greek myth of Proteus casts an interesting light on liver regeneration. Prometheus gave Mankind the gift of fire against the wishes of Zeus. Prometheus, by birth a Titan, had already angered Zeus in refusing the gift of Pandora. (His less forward thinking brother Epimetheus married her instead and she ended up opening her Box anyway, thus unleasing famine, illness, and other bad things on us mortals.) Zeus really was upset by the fact that Prometheus always sided with the Mortals. So he chained him to a rock on Mount Caucasus where every day Zeus’s giant eagle came to eat the liver of Prometheus. But every night the liver of Prometheus would regrow and each new morning would bring another day of agony.

Prometheus, which means forethought in Greek, never did give in though. Because of his unyielding strength in fighting for his beliefs, Prometheus stands as a symbol of courage under fire. As for the liver part, I still have not discovered how the ancient Greeks had any understanding of the liver’s regenerative capacity. If any net travelers can tell me, I would love to hear from you.

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