Clinicopathological aspects of primary hepatocellular carcinoma occurring in patients with liver cirrhosis.

In Japan, most cases of primary hepatocellular carcinoma are associated with liver cirrhosis. Therefore, we must carefully consider the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in cases where liver cirrhosis can be diagnosed. Among 333 patients with liver cirrhosis in whom the clinical course was observed for at least one year after initial diagnosis in the author's clinic, primary hepatocellular carcinoma developed in 20 patients. In this paper, the author intends to elucidate the clinicopathological aspects of these 20 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma to delineate clinical features of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in its early stage and to find a clue to carcinogenesis in the cirrhotic liver.