We report on 2 patients with liver cirrhosis and biopsy-proven hepatocellul
ar carcinoma who underwent spontaneous regression. In 1 case the tumor beca
me undetectable at ultrasonography, while, in the other, the liver lesions
decreased in size and showed inner calcifications. In both patients, a-feto
protein, which was high at first diagnosis, returned to normal values. Afte
r a tumor-free period of 4 years and 17 months, respectively, liver cancer
reappeared and patients died from complications. We advance the hypothesis
that tumor regression, when it occurs in cirrhotic patients, is always tran
sient, with chronic liver disease being the oncogenic triggering factor.