Multicentric hepatocellular carcinomas tend to grow in more damaged segments of the liver.

In 115 patients (68 with liver cirrhosis and 47 without) who underwent curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic liver diseases, we separated the liver into three segments (right, middle, and left) according to the three secondary branches of the Glissonean pedicle. We examined the weight of each resected segment. We also examined the histological findings of the segments in the same liver in 24 other patients with HCV-related chronic liver diseases. The average weight of the segments did not vary significantly in patients without liver cirrhosis. However, the average weight of the segments was significantly different in patients with liver cirrhosis (P = 0.0414) and the weight of the middle segment was lower than that of the other segments. In another group, of 246 patients with curative resection of HCC, of the 90 patients with single nodular HCCs, 45 nodules (50%) were located in the middle segment (P = 0.0004); in the 156 patients with synchronous multicentric HCCs (total, 401 nodules), 220 nodules (54.9%) were located in the middle segment. In 74 of the 156 patients with synchronous multicentric HCCs (47.4%), the HCCs were located in the same segment. The grade, stage of hepatitis, and number of sites of irregular regeneration were significantly different in each segment (P < 0.05), and the middle segment had more advanced hepatitis than the other segments. The rate of occurrence of HCC in the middle segment was higher than that in the other segments. The difference among the segments of the liver in regard to the degree of damage done by hepatitis may be related to the differences in HCC occurrence among the liver segments.