HCC and other Liver Tumors Flashcards
Metastasis is the ABSOLUTE MC liver cancer, outdoing primary malignancy by how many times?
What is the MC origin point?
20X more common with 50% derived from the GI. And the remaining mostly from Breast and Lung.
How would you realize it’s a metastatic cancer in the liver vs primary?
Multiple nodules on CT are blatant.
What are the two benign tumors of the liver?
Cavernous Hemangioma and Hepatic Adenoma.
What is the MCC of Hepatic Adenoma?
Exogenous sex steroids, including OCPs.
What 5 kinds of tumors occur in the liver?
Which of these are malignant?
Cavernous Hemangioma, Angiosarcoma, Hepatic Adenoma, HCC, and Metastases.
Angiosarcoma, HCC, Metastases.
What is dangerous about Cavernous Hemangioma and Angiosarcoma?
These are highly vascular and can bleed out.
What are the environmental exposures associated with the development of Angiosarcoma?
Arsenic and Vinyl Chloride (used in plastics).
MCC of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is not EtOH, surprisingly. What is it?
HBV and HCV and Hepatitis B can even skip the fibrotic regenerating Cirrhosis step of the process and go straight to HCC.
What 3 genetic diseases are associated highly with Cirrhosis leading to HCC?
Hemochromatosis, a1-antitrypsin deficiency, Wilson disease.
What carcinogen is highly associated with Hepatocellular Carcinoma?
Aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus spp. Pathogen to crops and human carcinogen.
What is used to diagnose liver cancer once the person has been determined to have risk factors?
MRI or CT with contrast.
Percutaneous CT biopsy is possible but must ascertain there is no likely bleed…dangerous with Cavernous hemangioma or Angiosarcoma and even still danger of seeding the cancer along the tract from the biopsy.
What is the Hepatocellular Carcinoma cancer marker and why does it suck?
alpha-fetoprotein. Half liver cancers don’t even have elevated AFP until they are already full-blown. It is also found in gonadal cancers.
Can be used for prognosis or to check recurrence.
