The occurrence of liver tumours in the course of Fanconi anaemia (FA)
has been well documented. We present a case, review the literature and
conclude that androgen therapy would increase the risk of developing
tumours, most of which appear to be benign (adenomas or peliosis) and
androgen-dependent, generally decreasing in size after cessation of tr
eatment. Survival of patients is poor, mostly because of the rapid evo
lution of untreated FA, rather than rupture or degeneration of the tum
our. In the absence of an allogenic bone marrow transplantation, admin
istration of haematopoietic growth factors might be effective. As a pr
eventive measure, other types of unsubstituted androgens may be used.