Television actor Dipika Kakar has been diagnosed with a tumour in her liver, her husband Shoaib Ibrahim revealed in his recent vlog. The health update comes days after Dipika voluntarily exited the cooking reality show Celebrity MasterChef India, which had marked her return to television after five years.
While fans were speculating the reason behind her sudden departure, Shoaib shared that the issue turned out to be far more serious than initially expected. “Dipika is not well, I think there is a stomach issue,” Shoaib said in the vlog titled ‘Need your prayers’. “When I was in Chandigarh, Dipika started having pain in her stomach and initially we thought it was due to acidity. But when the pain did not decrease, she consulted our family doctor, who also treated our father. He gave some antibiotics and asked her to get blood tests done. Then she was on antibiotics till May 5, and when I returned, she was doing fine.”
He added, “Then, after papa’s birthday, she once again started experiencing pain and meanwhile the blood test reports came, which indicated that she had infection in her body. Our doctor asked us to visit again, and when we met him, he asked us to do a CT scan, and it showed that Dipika has a tumour in the left lobe of her liver. It is bigger in size like a tennis ball. It was very shocking for us.” Shoaib also mentioned that the tumour appears to be benign for now, but they are awaiting further reports to determine the course of treatment.
What could cause a tumour the size of a tennis ball to develop in the liver?
Dr Bhushan Bhole, senior consultant, GI Surgery and Liver Transplantation PSRI Hospital, tells indianexpress.com, “When we talk about liver tumours or liver lesions, they can be benign or malignant, meaning cancerous.”
Dr Bhole adds that they are called incidentally detected liver lesions when they are detected incidentally. “The patient presents with pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, some sort of non-specific acidity symptoms, and then you do certain investigations like ultrasound and CT scan, and then you find that there is a lesion in the liver. These are called incidentally detected liver tumours.”
They can be of any size, the expert notes, from small lemon size to as big as more than a tennis ball size. “When they are benign, it can be a hemangioma, it can be a focal nodular hyperplasia, or it can be a hepatic adenoma. All these lesions are more seen in females than males. Hepatic adenomas are common in females who take contraceptive pills.”
What are the symptoms?
Dr Manoj Gupta, head, Liver Transplant & Surgical Gastroenterology at PSRI Hospital, explains, “Usually, the symptoms of liver tumour can be diagnosed by routine tests. The most worrisome thing is that it is asymptomatic. It means there are no liver tumour symptoms in the initial stage. When the tumour increases, it is found that there can be pain in the right upper part of the body. Or the sudden loss of appetite, weight loss, exhaustion, and if there is an advanced stage, then there can be blisters. Pain increases, and there is swelling on the feet.” He adds that somiting can lead to blood. Or it can lead to black latin. Or it can lead to fainting.
Story continues below this ad
Key tests that determine whether tumour benign or malignant and treatment options
Dr Bhole informs, “There are special CT scans, MRI of the liver, which help us to diagnose whether it is a benign liver tumour or malignant tumour. Blood tests are also simultaneously done along with CT or MRI to find out what is the nature of this tumour. When the diagnosis is in confusion or dilemma regarding whether it is benign or malignant, there is also the option of biopsy, which tells us the nature of the liver tumour.”
So when we talk about the treatment, Dr Bhole says, it all depends on what kind of liver tumour it is, whether benign or malignant. “Both can be treated, but for that, again, I would emphasise that patients should consult the right doctor, an expert in gastro and liver. And like I said, all tumours can be treated,” he assures.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.
