The obscure symptom of liver cancer that shows up while doing the washing up

SHOULDER pain while doing the dishes could be a sign of liver cancer, experts warn.

Referred pain is common in people with the disease, which kills almost 6,000 Brits each year.

More frequently, people with the condition experience heartburn, bloating, nausea and vomiting, according to the NHS.

Feeling full after eating small meals is also reported.

But having a swollen liver can cause pain in your right shoulder.

This is because the enlarged organ stimulates nerves that connect to nerves in the shoulder, according to Cancer Research UK.

This sign can often be brushed off as a simple ache after doing a lot of housework – such as the washing up or vacuuming.

But it’s important to be alert to the potential dangers as liver cancer can be tricky to spot.

Symptoms often don’t occur at all in the early stages, and once they do, it’s vital to act fast.

The NHS says the easy-to-ignore signs include:

• unexplained weight loss
• loss of appetite
• feeling very full after eating, even if the meal was small
• feeling sick and vomiting
• pain or swelling in your abdomen (tummy)
• jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
• itchy skin
• feeling very tired and weak

Having these symptoms doesn’t mean you definitely have liver cancer; they are more likely to be the result of a more common condition, such as an infection.

But if you suffer from these symptoms for more than two weeks, it’s worth seeing your GP.

Around 6,200 people are diagnosed and 5,800 die with cancer that begins in the liver each year in the UK.

It is the second largest organ in the body after your skin and sits just below your right lung.

Liver cancer begins when abnormal cells start to divide and grow in an uncontrolled way.

The exact cause of this is still unknown, but most cases are associated with damage and scarring of the liver known as cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis can have a number of different causes, including drinking excessive amounts of alcohol over many years and having a long-term hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infection.

It’s also thought obesity and an unhealthy diet can increase the risk of liver cancer because this can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.