Occurrence of benign hepatocellular tumors in alcoholic men.

Abstract

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and liver cell adenoma (LCA) are benign hepatocellular tumors, found mainly in females in association with the use of oral contraceptives. In adult male clinical patients and in retrospective male autopsy cases, both tumors were often found in association with chronic abuse of alcohol. This association was also found (p less than 0.025) in a prospective autopsy series on alcoholic and non-alcoholic males, in which a family member or close friends of the deceased were interviewed for estimating the consumption of alcohol. Nine of the 12 tumors found in males were FNH and three were LCA. In the average males with FNH were as old (51.0 years) as those with LCA (48.7 years). In two of the FNH cases two tumors were found. In the prospective autopsy series the weight of the liver of males with FNH was significantly (p less than 0.001) higher than that of non-alcoholic controls. A correlation (p less than 0.05), independent of age or liver weight, was found between the size of cavernous hemangioma, another hepatic tumor suggested to respond to estrogens, and daily alcohol dose. It is suggested that alcohol-induced liver cell hypertrophy or the feminizing effect of chronic use of alcohol on male sex hormone metabolism might contribute to the growth of pre-existing benign hepatocellular tumors in males.