What is the key laboratory finding in hepatocellular carcinoma?

Alpha-fetoprotein — The most commonly used serum marker for HCC is serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentration. AFP is a glycoprotein that is normally produced during gestation by the fetal liver and yolk sac, and the serum concentration can be elevated in patients with HCC.

What are the clinical features for diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinomas?

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) generally present with signs and symptoms of advancing cirrhosis, as follows:

• Pruritus.
• Jaundice.
• Splenomegaly.
• Variceal bleeding.
• Cachexia.
• Increasing abdominal girth (portal vein occlusion by thrombus with rapid development of ascites)
• Hepatic encephalopathy.

How do you diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma?

Tests and procedures used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma include:

1. Blood tests to measure liver function.
2. Imaging tests, such as CT and MRI.
3. Liver biopsy, in some cases, to remove a sample of liver tissue for laboratory testing.

Is there such a thing as fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma?

Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare hepatic neoplasm that accounts for less than 1% of HCC in the United States [ 1 ]. In a large retrospective cohort study involving 7964 patients with HCC, fibrolamellar HCC was reported in only 68 cases (0.8%) [ 1 ].

What kind of tumor is a CT fibrolamellar?

ct Fibrolamellar HCCs typically are single large tumors with dense fibrotic bands forming a central scar (seen in ~75% of cases) 1 , which make it resemble focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) . A few small calcifications are seen in 35-65% of cases 1 .

What are the imaging features of fibrolamellar HCC?

On MRI, fibrolamellar HCC is usually hypointense on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted images [ 24 ]. The fibrous central scar is typically hypointense on both T1- and T2-weighted images (Fig. 6).

Can a focal nodular hyperplasia cause fibrolamellar HCC?

Although focal nodular hyperplasia had been proposed as a causative factor for fibrolamellar HCC, no causal relationship has been found [ 6 ]. Fibrolamellar HCC may rarely coexist with other hepatic tumors, such as HCC, focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), and cholangiocarcinoma [ 7 – 10 ].