Elevation of alpha-fetoprotein level without evidence of recurrence after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Seven Japanese patients showed a gradual rise in serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels for periods of 4 to 14 weeks after partial hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma. These levels then gradually decreased, but not always to a normal level, and various procedures after surgery failed to detect tumor recurrence. All the cases were complicated with liver cirrhosis. It is suggested that the postoperative elevation in the AFP level may have been caused by hepatic regeneration as a result of the intervention chemotherapy and/or surgery, but it does not exclude the possibility of a tumor recurrence.