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Liver cancer treatment options include surveillance, surgery, liver transplant, ablation, embolization, targeted therapy, and radiation. Get comprehensive information about liver cancer and treatment options in this clinician summary.

If you already know you have AAT deficiency, you probably also have a related lung or liver disease. Ongoing medical care and lifestyle changes can help you manage your health. Your doctor may also talk to you about making healthy lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, avoiding secondhand smoke and other lung irritants, and getting annual flu and pneumonia vaccines.

AAT deficiency currently has no cure, but there are treatments to slow lung damage and treat its complications. Treatment is best managed by a team that includes a primary care doctor, pulmonologist (lung specialist), gastroenterologist (GI specialist), and geneticist (specialist in genetic conditions). People who have AAT deficiency and develop related liver or skin diseases will be referred to doctors who treat those diseases.

AAT deficiency usually is diagnosed after you develop a lung or liver disease that is related to the condition. But knowing the symptoms and getting an early diagnosis is important to help prevent serious disease, especially with treatment and lifestyle changes.

The first lung-related symptoms of AAT deficiency may include shortness of breath, less ability to be physically active, and wheezing. Some people may not have any symptoms or complications. AAT deficiency can lead to lung and liver diseases.

You may want to talk to your doctor about testing for AAT deficiency if you have a parent, sibling, or child with the condition, even if you do not have symptoms. There is no way to prevent AAT deficiency because the condition is inherited.

AAT deficiency can affect people of any race or ethnicity. However, the condition occurs most often in white people of European backgrounds. If you have first-degree relatives (siblings, parents, or children) with AAT deficiency, you are at a higher risk for the condition. Even so, it does not mean that you will develop one of the diseases related to the condition.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency happens when you do not make enough AAT protein. The AAT protein is made in your liver. This protein enters your blood and protects your organs, including the lungs, from damage. For example, your immune system is your body’s defense against bacteria and viruses but if it is overactive, it can damage your body while fighting diseases. The AAT protein prevents you from having too much inflammation in your lungs. Without enough AAT protein, your immune system may damage your lungs and lead to lung disease.

A harmful algal bloom (HAB) occurs when toxin-producing algae grow excessively in a body of water. Algae are microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments and use photosynthesis to produce energy from sunlight, just like plants. The excessive algal growth, or algal bloom, becomes visible to the naked eye and can be green, blue-green, red, or brown, depending on the type of algae.

A fact sheet about research on the association of oral contraceptive use (birth control pills) with risk of various cancers.