Aa
ELEVATED AFP
I had a routine Ultrasound about 11 months ago and it was discovered that I had a mass of 2.2 CM on my liver which was said to be hamongioma. The Ultrasound was repeated in June this year and the size of the mass remained the same. Also I ran a blood test recently and my AFP is about 9.1 rising from 8.2 about 3 months ago. The laboratory where I ran the test indicated the normal range for the AFP to be between 0- 5.8. Please advice. I do not smoke and I do not drink. I am hep B and C negative as per a laboratory test in June .I am a little over weight
Justus sounds like great news and know you've been concerned. Glad Hector responded to your post with a positive outlook.
Stay well
....Kim
Stay well
....Kim
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hello and welcome to the Cirrhosis of the liver forum.
Do you have cirrhosis? You don’t mention the ultrasound abnormalities that would indicate you have cirrhosis of the liver. If you don’t have cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B infection the changes of having liver cancer (HepatoCellular Carcinoma (HCC)) is extremely low.
Smoking or not, being a little over weight, drinking UNLESS you have cirrhosis has nothing to do with a higher risk of developing HCC.Only people with cirrhosis or hepatitis B infection have an increased risk of developing HCC.
As you stated your AFP is Normal. It is not medically speaking, "elevated". All blood levels vary within normal ranges, laboratory ranges may vary from lab to lab, and in some people their norm my be a little higher or lower than norm. When the medical literature says an "elevated AFP level", regarding HCC, they mean typically a rising AFP level by orders of magnitude, in the hundreds or thousands of units (IU/mL). Obviously for you this is not the case.
Note that AFP has limited use in diagnosing HCC as not all HCC produces AFP. HCC is diagnosed using imagining studies, particularly CT and MRI which can detect the abnormal blood flow characteristics and other typical features of HCC, not using AFP levels alone.
Liver hemangiomas are a tangle of blood vessels in or on the surface of the liver. Liver hemangiomas usually are not bothersome and do not cause symptoms. The only problem that can occur in a small percent of cases is, the lesion may grow to a large size in that case they are removed. But that is not a common problem. Most people never know they have a hemangioma until for some reason they have an imagining study done and it is found.
A 2.2 cm is a large lesion. If is was cancer it would have grown in size over the latest 3 months
You have no risk for or indications of having HCC and the diagnosis of hemangioma appears to be correct.
Be well.
Hector
Do you have cirrhosis? You don’t mention the ultrasound abnormalities that would indicate you have cirrhosis of the liver. If you don’t have cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B infection the changes of having liver cancer (HepatoCellular Carcinoma (HCC)) is extremely low.
Smoking or not, being a little over weight, drinking UNLESS you have cirrhosis has nothing to do with a higher risk of developing HCC.Only people with cirrhosis or hepatitis B infection have an increased risk of developing HCC.
As you stated your AFP is Normal. It is not medically speaking, "elevated". All blood levels vary within normal ranges, laboratory ranges may vary from lab to lab, and in some people their norm my be a little higher or lower than norm. When the medical literature says an "elevated AFP level", regarding HCC, they mean typically a rising AFP level by orders of magnitude, in the hundreds or thousands of units (IU/mL). Obviously for you this is not the case.
Note that AFP has limited use in diagnosing HCC as not all HCC produces AFP. HCC is diagnosed using imagining studies, particularly CT and MRI which can detect the abnormal blood flow characteristics and other typical features of HCC, not using AFP levels alone.
Liver hemangiomas are a tangle of blood vessels in or on the surface of the liver. Liver hemangiomas usually are not bothersome and do not cause symptoms. The only problem that can occur in a small percent of cases is, the lesion may grow to a large size in that case they are removed. But that is not a common problem. Most people never know they have a hemangioma until for some reason they have an imagining study done and it is found.
A 2.2 cm is a large lesion. If is was cancer it would have grown in size over the latest 3 months
You have no risk for or indications of having HCC and the diagnosis of hemangioma appears to be correct.
Be well.
Hector
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