Liver Lesions

[seesa]

My mom has had some severe pain in her stomache area.   4 years ago she had a scan done of her liver and they found a lesion.  Today she told me she had the same thing done and they found more lesions.  The Doctors plan to compare the 2 scans and let her know...  LET HER KNOW WHAT is what i am wondering..  what are liver lesions??  What are they from??  What can it all mean??  

[rebeccaP528]

Hi Seesa,

Is your mom a drinker?  I'm going through the same thing with my dad except he has cirrohsis of the liver from drinking.  He had symptoms in '91 (varcise in the esophagus)  but had been symptom free for 17 years and suddenly it happened again.  The Dr. ordered a ultrasound and found a mass or a "lesion" in his liver.  From what I have read on the internet, this could be cancer.  It could also be scarring from the cirrohsis that mimicks cancer so they orded an MRI to get a closer look at to determine what it is.  If that can't tell them a biopsy will be next.  

Apparently your liver can't reginerate when it damaged from drinking and as it tries to repair itself it scars.  In the process of scarring the liver cells can mutate and turn in to cancer.  

I hope the best for your mom.  I don't mean to scare you.  My father goes in for his MRI on monday.

[mikesimon]

All lesions are not cancer though they can be. I was listed for transplant and I was way down at the bottom of the list. I was not that sick despite having a cirrhotic liver. I had been on the list probably 4 years when during my annual exam a lesion on my liver was seen. It was in a place that they could not biopsy it so they could not be sure as to whether the lesion was cancerous. I was put on the top of the list. I got a liver and when my old liver was examined there was no cancer at all. The transplant team was being careful but if a liver had not become available they were going to scan my liver monthly. I am no expert on this subject but I believe that the only way to definitively diagnose whether the lesion is cancerous is to biopsy it - insert a hollow needle into the lesion and pull out a plug for the pathology department to examine.
Good luck, Mike

[rebeccaP528]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for posting that message.  I called and told my dad about your situation and it made him feel at ease.  He is 69, turning 70 next month and besides his liver, he is generally in good health.

What symptoms did you have with your chirrhosis and if you don't mind me asking, how old where you when you received your transplant?  Where there any complications and how is your health now?  My dad is scared to death, as am I.  

If you get a chance please send a message back.  I want to know as much as possible.  Did they say why the lesion was there?  Was it a scar from the chirrhosis?

Thanks
Rebecca P