Hepatocellular carcinoma. A clinical and pathologic analysis of 57 hepatectomy cases.

The following is a clinicopathologic analysis of 57 hepatectomy cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The rates of complication from precirrhosis and cirrhosis were 33.3% each. Cirrhosis seemed to have preceded HCC in 13 cases (39.4%) and both diseases appeared to have developed simultaneously in 18 cases (54.5%). Growth patterns of HCC were related to histologic features of livers bearing HCC: HCCs occurring in normal livers were significantly larger in average tumor size than those occurring in cirrhotic livers (9.2 as compared to 4.7 cm) and tended to exhibit a microtrabecular growth pattern (83% of the cases), while HCCs occurring in cirrhotic livers were most commonly macrotrabecular (67%). The factors most significantly influencing survival were the smallness of removed liver and tumor, histologic grades, the presence of bile production, and the absence of satellite tumors and giant cells. The positivity rates of serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen averaged 47.2% and the relation of HCC to the role of HBV in the pathogenesis of HCC was discussed.