Age and sex differences in bone metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in Japanese autopsy cases.

Metastatic patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 6997 autopsy cases recorded in the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan from 1981 to 1984 were analyzed by using a computer. Significant association of the metastatic pattern of hepatocellular carcinoma with age and sex was shown after separating patients into different age groups in pack years. It was especially worthy of notice that bone metastasis decreased in an age-dependent manner only in men within the widest age range (P less than 0.001) and was significantly prevalent in men in their forties and fifties (P = 0.012). In addition, in 350 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma autopsied at Tokyo University Hospital during 15 years from 1971 to 1985, it was suggested that bone metastasis might be prevalent in male patients with liver cirrhosis although significant relationship between bone metastasis and hepatitis B virus infection or alcohol abuse was not shown. These results might indicate possible effects of sex differences on the metastatic pattern of hepatocellular carcinoma, particularly bone metastasis, as well as on the incidence of the cancer.