Premium
The biopathologic characteristics of dna content of hepatocellular carcinomas
Author(s) -
Wenming Cong,
Mengchao Wu
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19900801)66:3<498::aid-cncr2820660316>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , dna , medicine , capsule , pathology , biology , genetics , botany
A gross morphologic classification of 66 small hepatocellular carcinomas (SHCC, ⩽3 cm in diameter) was made and DNA content of 30 SHCC and 26 large hepatocellular carcinomas (LHCC, >3 cm in diameter) was determined by image analysis technology. The three types of SHCC are as follows: type I, noncapsule type; type II, capsule type; and type III, infiltrative type. Of the SHCC, 73.3% had diploid DNA content, and 84.6% of LHCC had aneuploid DNA content. The postoperative 5‐year survival rate of patients with SHCC was 62.1%, which is higher than the rate of 27.7% of patients with LHCC. There was no correlation between tumor size and serum alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) levels. The results suggest that the period when SHCC are 3 cm in size may be important as the changes of DNA stemlines and biological characteristics would occur then. The SHCC of <3 cm reflect relatively benign biological behavior of early hepatocellular carcinoma and this period is the best opportunity for the clinician to get the best prognosis. Currently determination of serum AFP is still one of the possible and effective methods to early finding SHCC.