Intrahepatic Clear Cell Cholangiocarcinoma
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a cancer of the bile duct in the liver. The clear cell subtype of ICC is a rare cancer; until now, only 8 cases have been reported. The number of reports is so small that a detailed description of clear cell ICC is valuable.
A case report published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this problem. The diagnostic pathology team led by Associate Professor Dr. Hayashi at the Department of Pathology, Nagasaki University Hospital in Japan collaborated with Professor Nagayasu, Department of the 1st Surgery and Professor Uetani, Department of Radiology, to investigate how the specific “clear cell” change occurs, a patient’s underlying disease and choice of chemotherapy, and the prognosis for future patients of this rare cancer.
The patient was a 56-year-old Japanese man with a 3-year history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The follow-up echo revealed a tumor of the liver. CT and MRI suggested hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); a cancer of liver cells. The patient had surgery and the tumor was diagnosed as the rare “clear cell ICC”, not a conventional HCC. Read more
Reliable Biomarkers Needed For Early Detection Of Liver Cancer
Filed under: Cancer / Oncology, Clinicals Trial / Drugs Trial, Liver Disease / Hepatitis
While biomarkers are needed to complement ultrasound in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; liver cancer), neither des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) nor the most widely used biomarker, alpha fetoprotein (AFP), is optimal, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
“Most surprising was the finding that patient demographics influenced both des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin and alpha fetoprotein values, but in opposite directions,” said Anna S. Lok, MD, AGAF, of the University of Michigan Medical Center and lead author of the study. “This observation merits further investigation, as it might impact the accuracy of these biomarkers in the detection of liver cancer.”
The study was conducted in 10 centers in the U.S. and funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
Among 1,031 patients randomized in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment Against Cirrhosis Trial, a nested case-control study of 39 HCC cases (24 early stage) and 77 matched controls was conducted to compare the performance of AFP and DCP. Read more