In some people, liver cancer can cause pain in the upper right area of the abdomen (belly) and, sometimes, in the right shoulder. If the cancer has spread outside the liver, pain may also occur in the ribs, back or pelvis.
Pain can be managed with different types of pain medicines. These may be mild, like paracetamol, or strong and opioid-based, like morphine, hydromorphone or fentanyl. Some pain medicines, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, may not be suitable for pain caused by liver cancer. Speak to your doctor about this.
Pain can also be managed with radiation therapy (to reduce the size of a liver tumour) or a nerve block (when an anaesthetic is injected into the nerve). You may also be referred to see a pain or palliative care specialist.
How to cope with pain
- Keep track of your pain in a symptom diary.
- Allow a few days for your body to adjust to the dose of pain medicine and for any drowsiness to improve.
- Let your doctor know if you have vivid dreams, nausea or other side effects after taking a strong pain medicine such as morphine. The doctor can adjust the dose or you can try other pain relief methods.
- If you are taking an opioid-based drug like morphine, use a laxative to prevent or relieve constipation.
- Take pain medicine as prescribed, even when you’re not in pain. Managing pain may become more difficult if pain medicine is not taken regularly.
For more on this, see Pain and cancer.
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A/Prof Simone Strasser, Hepatologist, AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and The University of Sydney, NSW (clinical update); A/Prof Siddhartha Baxi, Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director, GenesisCare, Gold Coast, QLD (clinical update); Prof Katherine Clark, Clinical Director of Palliative Care, NSLHD Supportive and Palliative Care Network, Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW; Anne Dowling, Hepatoma Clinical Nurse Consultant and Liver Transplant Coordinator, Austin Health, VIC; A/Prof Koroush Haghighi, Liver, Pancreas and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s Hospitals, NSW; Karen Hall, 131120 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Dr Brett Knowles, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and General Surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and St Vincent’s Hospital, VIC; Lina Sharma, Consumer; David Thomas, Consumer; Clinical A/Prof Michael Wallace, Department of Hepatology and Western Australian Liver Transplant Service, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Medical School, The University of Western Australia, WA; Prof Desmond Yip, Clinical Director, Department of Medical Oncology, The Canberra Hospital, ACT.
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