Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma: report of a case.
The widespread use of ultrasound in screening programmes for chronic liver disease has led to early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to the observation of some cases of tumour spontaneous regression. This is a rare event whose underlying mechanism is still unclear. We present here a case of spontaneous regression of HCC in a 71-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis and discuss possible aetiologies. None of the causative mechanisms proposed for spontaneous regression of HCC is completely satisfactory, so further studies are necessary to improve understanding of this unusual biological event. Therefore, we stress the importance of accumulating all such cases in the literature, because the clarification of aetio-pathogenic mechanisms may lead to the development of new treatment strategies for HCC.
Department of Surgery, Institute of Clinica Chirurgica, Italy. cffeo@uniss.it
Claudio F
CF
Feo
Antonio
A
Marrosu
Antonio M
AM
Scanu
Giorgio C
GC
Ginesu
Alessandro
A
Fancellu
Vincenzo
V
Migaleddu
Alberto
A
Porcu
D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000821:virology; D009365:Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography