Pathologic features of primary and metastatic hepatic malignancies.

Abstract

In the mammalian liver, 60% of the cells are hepatocytes while the remainder (35%) include biliary epithelium, Kupffer cells, endothelial cells, fat storing cells and connective tissue cells. Although, neoplasms of hepatocytes are the most common liver tumors in humans, a significant number of other neoplasms including tumors of bile duct epithelium can develop. Not too long ago, liver tumors were left untreated because liver was considered as a complex and mysterious organ inaccessible to surgery. Advances in imaging procedures and surgical techniques over the past 30 years have revolutionized the approaches to the treatment of benign and malignant liver tumors. Subsegmentectomy, segmentectomy, lobectomy and transplantation are routinely performed for treatment of primary and metastatic liver tumors with minimal morbidity and mortality rates. Since accurate diagnosis remains the key to sound management, the emphasis of this article is on classification, morphological features and differential diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of liver.KeywordsCholedochal CystFocal Nodular HyperplasiaGiant Cell TumorBile Duct CarcinomaExtramedullary HematopoiesisThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.