title: The clue of a possible etiology about spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma: a perspective on pathology.
abstract: Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare event. However, only a few of the causes of cases of HCC spontaneous regression are clear. More cases are ambiguous. We report on a patient who had a spontaneous regression of HCC as detected by histological and immunohistochemical exam, and compared this case to 20 cases of non-specific HCC. In our case, we found that the odd phenomenon is that CD163(+) macrophages are overactivated in surviving HCC, which is spontaneously regressing. Concomitantly, we cannot find a similar phenomenon in peritumoral liver tissue or non-specific HCC. According to our microscopical morphology and immunohistochemical study, we considered that a clue of a possible etiology about HCC spontaneous regression is that CD163(+) macrophages are overactivated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zun-Fu
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fang
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Can-Jiao
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lian-Tang
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: CD163; CD68; hepatocellular carcinoma; macrophages; spontaneous regression