CLINICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

Objectives: To assess clinical and histopathological variation in hepa tocellular carcinoma from different endemic zones and to relate such v ariation to current putative pathogenic mechanisms of carcinogenesis, Methods: Review of pertinent English language articles with emphasis o n regional differences as they relate to our objectives, Results: Clin ical presentation of hepatocellular carcinoma is variable in different endemic zones, Such different features may depend on the interaction of different etiological initiators and, probably, promoters that can lead to different genetic aberrations, Similarly, there also may be hi stopathological variation, However, it is difficult to clearly delinea te such differences, in part, because of lack of uniformity in reporti ng interpretation of histological data in the literature, And, the eth nic origin of patients is not always noted in middle and low endemic z ones of hepatocellular carcinoma, Conclusions: Distinction in clinical and histopathological variation in hepatocellular carcinoma may benef it from delineating the ethnic origin of subjects included in studies and from adoption of clear uniform terminology for benign, indetermina te, and malignant lesions.