METASTASES IN CASES WITH HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA IN RELATION TO CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE TUMOR - AN AUTOPSY STUDY FROM A LOW ENDEMIC AREA

In order to study clinicopathologic features of hepatocellular carcino ma (HCC) and their relation to metastatic growth, all autopsied cases with confirmed HCC (n = 490) from a period with a high autopsy frequen cy in a well-defined population were analyzed, Cirrhosis, usually of m icronodular type, was found in 72%. The gross appearance of the tumour was predominantly massive (46%) or multinodular (42%), The tumour inv olved both liver lobes in 72% or the right lobe alone in 20%, Histolog ically, trabecular growth (79%) and grade II of differentiation (52%) prevailed, Vascular invasion was noted in 56%, whereas involvement of the biliary tract was unusual (4%), Metastases especially involved lym ph nodes (42%), lungs (18%) and skeleton (17%), Increased weight of th e liver, multinodular appearance, involvement of both liver lobes, low grade of differentiation and vascular invasion were significantly ass ociated with presence of metastases.