Minute hepatocellular carcinoma without appreciable change in size for seven years: a case report.

A small hepatocellular carcinoma found and followed in a Japanese man is described. He died of diabetic nephropathy and bleeding esophageal varices seven years after surgical biopsy of the liver that revealed hepatocellular carcinoma. Clinical and autopsy findings demonstrated no appreciable change in tumor size during the seven-year period during which no specific treatment was given for cancer.