What is Liver Cancer?

Liver cancer occurs when there is an abnormal growth of liver tissues. When a tumor starts from liver cells, this is known as primary liver cancer. The liver functions to help the body to store nutrients and destroy toxins. When liver cells and bile duct cells become cancerous, early detection and medical care become crucial.

Primary liver cancer is globally the 6th most frequent cancer and the 4th leading cancer-related cause of death. In 2018, this cancer occurred in 841,000 people and resulted in 782,000 deaths globally. The leading cause of liver cancer is cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, hepatitis C or alcohol. Other causes include aflatoxin, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and liver flukes.

Given that there are many different causes of liver cancer, there are also many prevention methods. Some efforts include immunization against Hepatitis B, Hepatitis B treatment, Hepatitis C treatment, and decreasing alcohol use. Symptoms of liver cancer can be broad and vague.

Symptoms of Liver Cancer

The majority of patients with liver cancer have no symptoms in early stages. Some symptoms include:

• Weight loss without any particular reason
• Loss of appetite
• Upper abdominal pain
• Nausea & vomitting
• General weakness & fatigue

Liver cancer can come from the liver parenchyma as well as other structures in the liver such as the bile duct, blood vessels and immune cells. There are various types of liver cancer, such as:

1. Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The majority type of liver cancer, which happens in 75% of all primary liver cancers, is Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Liver cells, known as hepatocytes that became malignant form this liver cancer. In terms of HCC diagnosis, people with risk factors such as Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis are recommended to take ultrasound screening. If the ultrasound shows a larger than 1 cm in size of focal area, patients are recommended to take a triple phase contrast enhanced CT or MRI imaging.

2. Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Cancer of the bile duct (cholangiocarcinoma and cholangiocellular cystadenocarcinoma) account for about 6% of primary liver cancers. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CGA) is a kind of epithelial cancer of the intra-hepatic biliary tree branches.

3. Angiosarcoma & Hemangiosarcoma

These types of liver cancers are rare and aggressive. However, these types only account for 0.1-2% of primary liver cancers. Angiosarcoma & Hemangiosarcoma of the liver come from the blood vessels’ endothelial layer. Even with surgery, the prognosis is poor with most patients not surviving after 6 months of diagnosis. Only 3% of individuals live longer than 2 years.

Causes of Liver Cancer in Singapore

There are 3 main causes of primary liver cancer:

1. Chronic Hepatitis B or C Infection

Viral infection of either B or C Hepatitis is the main cause of liver cancer in the world today, accounting for 80% of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Men with chronic Hepatitis B or C are more likely to develop HCC than women, the reasons of this gender differences are still unknown. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) can lead to HCC because they cause massive inflammation, fibrosis, and eventual cirrhosis occurs in the liver.

2. Cirrhosis

In addition to virus-induced cirrhosis, there is also other cause of cirrhosis, such as alcohol intake. The risk of HCC is far greater in individuals with alcohol induced cirrhosis.

3. Aflatoxin

The exposure to aflatoxin can lead to Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). The aflatoxins are a group of chemicals produced by Aspergillus flavus  and A. parasiticus fungi. Food contamination by the fungi leads to the ingestion of this toxin.

Research of TXL towards Liver Cancer

1. TXL Assists in Inhibiting Liver Cancer Cell Growth and Induces Apoptosis

In 2005, the Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine published the research of Andy Sun’s team from National Taiwan University. The research investigates TXL’s efficacy in inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in a wide variety of human cancer cell lines, including liver cancer lines.

Results: THL (Taiwanese pronounciation of TXL) could induce apoptosis in all human cancer cell lines tested but not in normal human cells. THL treatment of H1299 cancer cells resulted in activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3 and the inhibitors of these caspases could partially block THL-induced apoptosis.

Conclusions: THL could induce apoptosis in all human cancer cell lines tested but not in normal human cells. This means that TXL selectively targets only human cancer cells without harming normal healthy human cells. THL treatment of H1299 cancer cells resulted in activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3 and the inhibitors of these caspases could partially block THL-induced apoptosis.

 

Figure 1B: Time dependent growth-inhibitory effect of TXL on C-33A (Cervical Carcinoma cell lines), H1299 (Lung Carcinoma cell lines) & HepG2 (Hepatocellular Carcinoma cell lines) on the upper panel and normal human PBMC cells on the lower panel. Cells were cultured in media in the absence or presence of 1% (v/v) TXL for 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 72 hours.

In figure 1B, it is clear that when hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines were incubated with 1% (v/v) TXL for various lengths of time, all 3 human cancer cell lines were inactivated by TXL in a time-dependent manner. In contrast, the normal human cells PBMC stayed alive even at 72 hours post-treatment.

Conclusion: TXL can specifically target human liver cancer cells but does not harm normal human cells at low concentration.

Figure 2: DNA fragmentation assay of various human cancer cells (C-33A = cervical carcinoma cell lines, HuH-7 and HepG2=Hepatocellular Carcinoma cell lines). HUVEC is normal human cells. These cells are untreated and treated with 1% (v/v) TXL. – (Minus) for untreated cells and + (plus) for TXL treated cells.

As evident by the formation of internucleosomal DNA fragments, treatment with 1% (v/v) TXL induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. But TXL does not harm HUVEC normal cells.

 

2. TXL Assitst in Eliminating Hepatoma (Hepatocellular Carcinoma) Cancer Stem Cell-Like “Side Population” Cells

In 2012, Hindawi Journal published the research by Chih-Jung Yao’s team from Taipei Medical University. The research investigated the effects of TXL (THL is Taiwanese pronounciation) on hepatoma stem-like side population that often causes cancer recurrence.

Abstract: There are increasing pieces of evidence suggesting that the recurrence of cancer may result from a small subpopulation of cancer stem cells, which are resistant to the conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We investigated the effects of Chinese herbal mixture Tien-Hsien Liquid (THL/TXL) on the cancer stem-like side population (SP) cells isolated from human hepatoma cells. After sorting and subsequent culture, the SP cells from Huh7 hepatoma cells appear to have higher clonogenicity and mRNA expressions of stemness genes such as SMO, ABCG2, CD133, β–catenin, and Oct-4 than those of non-SP cells. At dose of 2 mg/mL, TXL reduced the proportion of SP cells in HepG2 (Hepatocellular cell lines), Hep3B, and Huh7 cells from 1.33% to 0.49%, 1.55% to 0.43%, and 1.69% to 0.27%, respectively. The viability and colony formation of Huh7 SP cells were effectively suppressed by THL dose-dependently, accompanied with the inhibition of stemness genes, e.g., ABCG2, CD133, and SMO. The tumorigenicity of THL-treated Huh7 SP cells in NOD/SCID mice was also diminished. Moreover, combination with TXL could synergize the effect of doxorubicin (chemotherapy agent) against Huh7 SP cells.

Our data indicate that THL may act as a cancer stem cell targeting therapeutics and be regarded as complementary and integrative medicine in the treatment of hepatoma.

Figure 3: TXL decreased the proportion of Side Population (SP) cells in hepatoma cell lines

(a) Hepatoma cells were incubated with 2 mg/mL of TXL for 2 days, and then the proportion of SP was gated and analyzed after incubation with Hoechst 33342 (DNA binding dye)

(b) Graph format of Hepatoma SP cells of both control and TXL group

This figure demonstrates that TXL decreased proportion of Hepatoma Stem Cell-Like Side Population cells

3. TXL Has Synergistic Combination Effects with Doxorubicin (Chemotherapy Agent) Against Hepatoma Stem Cell-Like Side Population Cells

Table 1: At fixed dose of TXL and various doses of Doxorubicin, the Combined Index (CI) values were all below 1, indicating the synergistic combination effects. Inhibition (fraction affected) values ranged from 0 (no inhibition) to 1 (100% inhibition). The higher the dose of Doxorubicin used, the more proportion of hepatoma cell viability was inhibited.

Yao’s research found that the simultaneous treatment with both TXL and Doxorubicin resulted in a 63.6% decrease in the viability of Hematoma cells. In addition, the Combined Index (CI) values of this combination were all below 1, indicating the synergystic combination effects of Doxorubicin (Chemotherapy agent) with TXL.

TXL Assists as Liver Cancer Treatment in Singapore

TXL Phytoceutical has been used in international market since 1991. After 30 years of experience in supporting cancer patients, today the Research of TXL towards cancer has produced 26 international published peer-reviewed research articles, including 2 clinical researches, one for Breast Cancer in Taiwan National Hospital, and the other one for Nasopharyngeal Cancer in Dharmais Hospital Jakarta Indonesia.

TXL is also recognized in the Drug Dictionary of National Cancer Institute with code name THL-P.

 

There are 5 main therapeutic functions of TXL verified by its 26 researches:

1. Increase in Quality of Life

Research shows that TXL helps to improve the Quality of Life in cancer patients. Patients who consume TXL experience better physical and cognitive functions, with less fatigue.

2. Immunomodulating Effect

Immunomodulating means the ability to stimulate or regulate immune system which may help the body fight cancer, infection, or other diseases. TXL helps to stimulate Lymphocytes (by elevating CD3, CD4/CD8 and CD19), which are a crucial part of the immune system responsible to fight cancer cells, viruses and bacteria. The T lymphocyte, especially its capacity for antigen-directed cytotoxicity, has become a central focus for engaging the immune system in the fight against cancer. Basic science discoveries elucidating the molecular and cellular biology of the T cell have led to new strategies in this fight, including checkpoint blockade and adoptive cellular therapy.

Aside from T Lymphocytes, other classes of Lymphocytes include Natural Killer Cells, T Helper Cells, and B Cells.

3. Induce Apoptosis

Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death. Today, apoptosis in cancer cells is one of the most studied topics among cell biologists. Both normal cells and cancer cells go through apoptosis. Cancer is one of the scenarios where too little apoptosis occurs, resulting in malignant cells that will not die. Research shows that TXL helps to induce apoptosis in a wide variety of human cancer cell lines without harming normal healthy cells.

4. Inhibition of Metastasis & Angiogenesis

Metastasis means the migration or invasion of cancer cells from its’ primary location to another organ. This spreading of cancer is the main cause of death of patients with malignancy. Metastasis of cancer cells involves multiple processes and various cytophysiological changes.

Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation, plays a crucial role in the growth and metastasis of tumors. Tumor growth and progression require angio-genesis because in its absence tumor growth is restricted to a few millimeters in diameter due to the physical constraint set by simple diffusion of nutrients and oxygen.

Research in vitro shows that TXL helps to inhibit the migration of various cancer cells, decreased the secretion of MMP-2, MMP-9, and uPA and the activity of ERK1/2 in cancer cells, and supress metastasis of cancer cells. Moreover, the research shows that TXL helps to inhibit tube formation of endothelial cells in vitro, decreased the secretion of MMP-2 and uPA in endothelial cells, and suppressed neovascularization of cancer cells. This suppression of tumor growth was associated with decreased microvessel formation and increased apoptosis caused by THL.

TXL Experience of Liver Cancer Patients Worldwide

Disclaimer: The information presented in this website is only for education purposes. There is no guarantee for specific results, results vary amongst individuals. This information does not substitute nor replace medical advice.

1. Climbing up from the Valley of Despair

Mr. Kido from Osaka, 66 years old

The picture on the left is only for illustration

Placed All Hope on the Newest Radiation Treatment

My liver doesn’t function well for over 20 years and I take medicine given by the doctor. I was diagnosed as suffering from Type-C Hepatitis and received treatment of stimulant. 2 years later, data showed that the disease was brought under control and I was relieved. However, the disease suddenly had developed into cancer.

After I underwent liver artery embolism in July 1998, I was almost getting significantly better. But cancer cells were found near portal vein. Another liver artery embolism didn’t achieve the same effect.

I waited several months to be admitted to the relevant hospital because there were not enough beds. Disappointingly, I only got told that “my disease can’t be treated” and asked to leave.

Despair beyond description overwhelmed me and I could only glare at the doctor dumfounded. That night, I was crying the whole night and I had difficulty sleeping in the subsequent days.

Hope Emerged in Darkness

The tour in Tokyo might have relieved me. I calmed down to consider what the doctor said. Finally, I decided to receive treatment in the radiation department of hospital of Tokyo University. In November 1999, I was sent to hospital to receive radiation treatment 25 times. In January 2000, I underwent an embolism treatment for the newly found tumor in liver. It was at that time I began to drink Tian Xian Liquid, for I thought even if Western medicine could impact the disease, the effect wouldn’t be most satisfactory if my immunity was not strong enough.

One month later, the tumors at portal vein, 3 lymph glands and liver were wiped out. “How do they dissapear?” When I asked the doctor, he said in surprise, “it’s so incredible. I don’t know what to say.” Even the doctor couldn’t believe the dramatic effect. Although I got to know Tian Xian Liquid only recently, I would continue with it in order to become healthy again.

2. I Had Only 6 Months to Live

Lee Tien Song, 59 years old from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1996

14 years has gone by. I can still remember the liver cancer that tortured me 14 years ago. It is an indelible part of my life. I was touring Yunnan in 1994. After drinking with some friends I felt an acute pain in the right part of the abdomen, something that had never happened to me before.

The abdominal pain happened again on January 1st 1996, but with a vengeance. I couldn’t eat, so I had to go for a check-up at a  hospital. I was shocked to learn that I had liver cancer and the tumour was already 7.5 cm. I went for 2nd and 3rd opinions. Some said the cancer might have spread to the bones and surgery was out of the question, while some told me I had to be operated straight away so that I could have 50% chance of staying alive. Without surgery, they predicted that I could live for only 6 months.

I was only 46 years old then. What would happen to my family and business if I had just ignored it?

Just Let It Be and Live On

When I had made all the arrangements for my family and work, I just led a carefree life and let nature take its course. It was a pleasant surprise to find myself living continuously. In March 1996 I met TXL creator Prof. Wang Zhen Guo at a cancer seminar. He took my pulse and told me in no uncertain terms that I had to get the tumour removed surgically, but I had to take TXL before the surgery to control the cancer and to boost my immunity. He said the combination would prevent a relapse.

Encouraged by his words, I decided to go ahead with the surgery. I chose GHKL because the treatment in government hospitals was free.

My V-shaped Operation Wound, Sign of Cancer Combat

14 years have lapsed. In retrospect, I found that my wife was the person who had gone through hell when I was sick. She tolerated my tantrums and negative attitude all the way, without a single word of complaint but only words of encouragement. I had arranged for my 15 years old daughter, to work at my factory before the surgery. My second daughter joined her in the second year.

The doctor who gave me a check-up in 1996 predicted that I had only 2 more years to live. 2 years later, when I went for a check-up, he increased it to 4 years. I didn’t bother to see him anymore after that since his prediction was never correct. Today, 14 years later, my daughters who have sacrificed their education have already got married.

3. Beating the Odds with Tian Xian Liquid

Mr. Nishimura Zentaro (83 years old at the time from Japan)

My liver cancer was discovered during a check up at the Central Hospital in November 1992. I was confined to the National Cancer Center in December, and an examination there showed that I also had stomach cancer. The doctor told me that surgery would be very difficult because the cancer was in 2 separate locations and I was too old.

I Would Only Have a Few Months to a Year to Live

Even if I insisted on having surgery, they told me I would only have a few months to a year to live. I did not feel uncomfortable at the time and was not depressed. After talking with the doctor, I stopped taking my medication. I started looking at alternative medicine and other prescriptions that might improve my condition.

After learning of Tian Xian Liquid from my daughter, I bought some through a friend. It has been 6 years now and I have never stopped using it. Now, I don’t worry about the cancer and the pain. A friend of mine teasingly calls me “Superman.” Even the doctor was surprised. I still remember the doctor telling me that I only had a few months to live. Today, I’m free of this disease.

I will never forget the healing that Tian Xian Liquid brought about. I don’t know how long I will live, but with Tian Xian Liquid, I will never surrender to cancer.