Clonorchiasis and hepatic neoplasms.

Thirty-eight subjects from Hong Kong with chronic infestation by Clonorchis sinensis were studied. Ten of the patients died of hepatocellular carcinoma, seven of cholangiocarcinoma, and one each of carcinoma of the common bile duct and lymphoma. The major difference between the patients having cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma was cirrhosis. Only one patient with cholangiocarcinoma had cirrhosis; whereas all but one patient with hepatocellular carcinoma had cirrhosis. The etiopathogenesis of these two tumors is substantially different.