Surgery of liver tumours.

The liver is a segmental organ that allows resection through anatomically defined planes. The surgical management of an intrahepatic lesion, discovered either during investigation of hepatological symptoms or coincidentally, must involve an approach to investigation that carries a minimum risk and does not compromise subsequent excision of the lesion. Biopsy of an intrahepatic lesion found at laparotomy is essential, but attempts at early tissue diagnosis by percutaneous biopsy of operable tumours may lead to unnecessary morbidity and tumour spread. Preoperative studies often allow a firm pathological diagnosis to be made and ultrasonography, CT scanning and arteriography can be used to fully assess operability. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary liver cancer and is often found in association with cirrhosis and in patients with inadequate functional hepatic reserve. Surgical excision represents the only hope of cure for these patients and a 35% 5-year survival can be achieved by resection in the non-cirrhotic patient. Fibrolamellar HCC is less often associated with cirrhosis and is more often resectable with a better prognosis. Secondary tumours are often diffuse but about 5% of colorectal metastases are either solitary or confined to a resectable area of the liver. These tumours and secondary deposits from gastrointestinal endocrine tumours represent a small group of patients with potentially curable metastatic disease. Morbidity and mortality of operation depends on the extent of resection and the functional reserve of the liver. Local resections and resection for benign disease should carry no operative mortality. Major hepatic resection has a mortality of 3-5% and resection involving the structures at the hilus of the liver has an operative mortality of 10-12%. Liver transplantation in the management of neoplastic disease in the liver has yet to show any benefit over resectional surgery except where tumours have been discovered incidentally in the removed liver after transplantation for cirrhosis.