Cytologic criteria to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma from nonneoplastic liver.
The authors reviewed a series of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens of the liver to identify useful cytologic criteria to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from nonneoplastic liver. Ten cytologic features were examined in this study: high cellularity, acinar pattern, trabecular pattern, hyperchromasia, pleomorphism, irregularly granular chromatin, uniformly prominent nucleoli, multiple nucleoli, increased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, and atypical naked hepatocytic nuclei. These features were examined in a series of 82 FNAB specimens from 52 patients with HCC and 30 patients with nonneoplastic lesions. With the use of a step-wise logistic regression analysis, three features were identified as predictive of HCC: increased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio (P = 0.001), trabecular pattern (P = 0.002), and atypical naked hepatocytic nuclei (P = 0.03). When these three criteria were used, the sensitivity of diagnosing HCC by FNAB was 100%, and the specificity was 87%.
Cohen
M B
MB
Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco.
Haber
M M
MM
Holly
E A
EA
Ahn
D K
DK
Bottles
K
K
Stoloff
A C
AC
D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002466:Cell Nucleolus / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D002843:Chromatin / Q000473:pathology; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D013194:Staining and Labeling
D002843:Chromatin