Capsular formation surrounding hepatocellular carcinoma.

In Japan, it is well known that most cases of hepatocellular carcinoma occur in the cirrhotic liver and this fact is regarded as a pathologic characteristic of hepatocellular carcinoma. Capsule formation surrounding the tumor is also a characteristic of hepatocellular carcinoma and it may be related to the developmental mode of hepatocellular carcinoma, to the clinical manifestation of symptoms and to the prognosis of the disease. The formation of the capsule can often be detected by means of modern imaging diagnostic procedures as well as sonography-guided or laparoscopy-guided needle biopsy of the liver. This paper reports the results of an investigation on the incidence of capsular formation surrounding hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinicopathological consideration in hepatocellular carcinoma in its early stage occurring in liver cirrhosis.