Molecular diagnostic approach to liver tissue as an ancillary tool for liver histopathology.

Diagnostic liver histopathology is currently based on the microscopic assessment of morphological and immunohistochemical features in a biopsy. In other fields of diagnostic pathology, it has been shown that the diagnostic process can be improved by the incorporation of ancillary molecular techniques and this will most likely also occur in liver pathology in the future. This article gives an overview of several liver diseases for which the diagnosis could be improved by the addition of a molecular technique to the classical histopathologic working method. For each of these diseases, the most promising molecular techniques are discussed. It is very likely that ancillary molecular techniques will be applied in routine practice to improve diagnosis and prognostication of liver tumors in the foreseeable future.