Primary carcinoma of the liver; a clinicopathologic study of one hundred eight cases.

Abstract

Primary carcinoma of the liver continues to be a challenging disease, for it is of uncommon occurrence, and it presents a major diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Attention was recently refocused on this disease when it was noted that it had markedly increased in autopsies performed at this hospital during the past decade; the reasons for this increase were analyzed in a previous article from this laboratory, and they will be briefly referred to later. The present study reviews the clinical, pathological, and laboratory features of autopsied cases of primary liver carcinoma at this hospital and contrasts the findings in this series with those of other reports. No attempt has been made to record all previous reports of liver carcinoma, but rather to use the articles dealing either with large numbers of cases, or those dealing with pertinent features of the disease. Early History Among the excellent summaries of the historical