Relevance of Hepatic Preneoplasia for Human Hepatocarcinogenesis
Open Access
- 1 January 2003
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Toxicologic Pathology
- Vol. 31 (1), 126-133
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01926230390173905
Abstract
Different lesions have been suggested to represent preneoplastic conditions in human liver. They include liver cell dysplasia, separated in large-cell change (LCC) and small-cell change (SCC), adenomatoid hyperplasia, and the more recently identified foci of altered hepatocytes (FAH) and nodules of altered hepatocytes (NAH). FAH have been demonstrated to represent preneoplastic lesions in various animal models of hepatocarcinogenesis. To demonstrate prevalence and significance of FAH in the human liver, the cellular composition, size distribution, and proliferation kinetics of these lesions were studied in 163 explanted and resected human livers with or without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). FAH including glycogen-storing foci (GSF), mixed cell foci (MCF), and basophilic cell foci were found in 84 of 111 cirrhotic livers, demonstrating higher incidences in cases with than without HCC. MCF, predominant in cirrhotic livers of the high-risk group, were more proliferative, larger and more often involved in formation of NAH than GSF. The results suggest that the FAH are preneoplastic lesions, MCF being more advanced than GSF. We also investigated the relationship of FAH to liver cell dysplasia. Occurrence of SCC, rather than that of LCC, confers FAH an increased proliferation activity and higher risk to nodular transformation, and, hence, should be considered a precancerous condition. Histological detection of FAH and SCC through needle-aspiration liver biopsy can be used for monitoring HCC development in high-risk populations, such as HBV carriers with chronic hepatitis and/or cirrhosis.Keywords
This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hepadnaviral hepatocarcinogenesis: in situ visualization of viral antigens, cytoplasmic compartmentation, enzymic patterns, and cellular proliferation in preneoplastic hepatocellular lineages in woodchucksJournal of Hepatology, 2000
- The global burden of cancerSeminars in Cancer Biology, 1998
- Cytokeratin expression is reduced in glycogenotic clear hepatocytes but increased in ground-glass cells in chronic human and woodchuck hepadnaviral infectionHepatology, 1998
- Early perivenular fibrogenesis - precirrhotic lesions among moderate alcohol consumers and chronic alcoholicsJournal of Hepatology, 1995
- Cell proliferation and cell death (apoptosis) in hepatic preneoplasia and neoplasia are closely related to phenotypic cellular diversity and instabilityCarcinogenesis: Integrative Cancer Research, 1994
- Hepatocellular carcinoma in primary biliary cirrhosis: An autopsy studyHepatology, 1990
- Potential significance of phenotypic heterogeneity of focal lesions at different stages in hepatocarcinogenesisCarcinogenesis: Integrative Cancer Research, 1987
- Histochemical and immunohistochemical detection of putative preneoplastic liver foci in women after long-term use of oral contraceptivesVirchows Archiv B Cell Pathology Including Molecular Pathology, 1986
- Risk of Cirrhosis and Primary Liver Cancer in Alpha1-Antitrypsin DeficiencyThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1986
- Survival and Causes of Death in Cirrhotic and in Noncirrhotic Patients with Primary HemochromatosisThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1985