Background & objective: Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT), adenomatous nodular hyperplasia (ANH), and focal fatty change (FFC) are common hepatic tumor-like lesions, a group of benign liver diseases, which remains difficult to be distinguished from primary liver cancer (PLC). This study was to investigate the clinical features and treatment of these 4 kinds of hepatic tumor-like lesions.
Methods: Clinical data of 70 patients with pathologically conformed hepatic tumor-like lesions, treated in Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University from 1992 to 2004, were studied retrospectively.
Results: Of the 70 patients, 34 (48.6%) had clinical symptoms, and most of them suffered mild pain in the abdomen; 22 (31.4%) were positive for hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigen; 21 had mild abnormal liver function; 6 had alpha fetal protein (AFP) > 25 microg/L. The ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) presentations of the tumor-like lesions were various. Only 8 cases of FNH were diagnosed preoperatively. Sixty-one patients received resection, with no postoperative complication occurred. One case of FNH and 1 case of IPT were recurred during follow-up, and treated with non-resection therapy.
Conclusions: Hepatic tumor-like lesions are difficult to be distinguished from PLC. Exploratory operation should be performed in cases suspicious of PLC.