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505363 tn?1211206960

biopsy cancer risk

do any of you worry that if you have any stage of undetected liver cancer, that the biopsy can make it spread further? i have heard in lectures and also read that this can happen with any biopsy if you have cancer. so it makes me want to not get a biopsy if one is suggested. i was thinking i could ask for the biopsy substitute tests, though i doubt that'll go over well.
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505363 tn?1211206960
that's a great answer and so thorough. thank you. a lot to think about. for me, a lot of this hinges on my trust in doctors since they have hurt and failed me so much in the past.

if i had a lot of money, i could go to the alternative doctors for their tests. one doc i've talked to claims that by the time cancer shows up on mainstream medical tests, it's too late. i'm not sure how true that is. so here i continue, walking in limbo between the worlds of mainstream and alternative medicine.
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Avatar universal
Yes I've heard that it's thought that a biopsy, presumably piercing a tumor or cancerous cells, could help spread a pre-existing but "stable" cancer in the liver (presumably by dislodging residual cancerous cells and fluids into the body when the biopsy needle is withdrawn). But I'm pretty sure that's theoretical and it has not been proven, plus the needle would have to just happen to hit a cancerous lesion, another unlikely event unless a large percentage of the liver is already cancerous. Personally I would not let that concern stop me from getting a biopsy (nor did I). The vast majority of people with hepatitis C do not have liver cancer. Most people with "typical" HCV infections do not have cirrhosis, which is usually what precedes HCC (liver cancer). So odds are right off the bat that you don't have it and the worry of this theoretical risk is misplaced.

Also you must factor in the flipside - hep C increases your risk of developing cancer the longer you have it. Not that that means you must get a biopsy, but most people get one so they know how urgent their treatment timetable is. If you were planning treatment soon, no matter the condition of your liver (as declared by biopsy), then under those circumstances a biopsy could be avoided. Although if you did have cirrhosis (or advanced fibrosis) that would be good to know before/during your treatment so you can factor in how aggressive you want to be with treatment - especially in terms of duration and possibly increased IFN/riba dosage. With cirrhosis, the stakes are obviously very high and this dictates a more aggressive and perhaps longer treatment regimen. If you started having problems tolerating the side effects during treatment, knowing if you had cirrhosis or not would strongly play into the decision to press on and endure the side effects or conversely to stop or cut back on the drugs, with the knowledge that if treatment failed you have the luxury of time on your side so you could try again later.

But if the cancer thing still worries you, have your blood checked for cancerous markers. Also you might be able to have your liver imaged using a cat scan or even fibroscan which should be able to pick up on cirrhosis and tumors should they exist. There are other blood markers and physical symptoms that point towards cirrhosis too (like enlarged spleen, low platelets, edema, esophageal varices, fluid retention etc) that could help identify advanced cirrhosis if you have it without a biopsy (again remembering that cirrhosis almost always precedes HCC in chronic hep C patients).

Good luck...
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