Comparison of the DNA content in liver cell adenoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and regenerative nodules

With regard to neoplasms of hepatocytes, diagnostic pitfalls have been reported for differentiation of live cell adenoma (LCA) from well differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Since cytophotometric analysis of the DNA content with the help of image analysis has proven to be of diagnostic value in various neoplasms, we examined ifs ability to discriminate between LCA and HCC as well as regenerative liver nodules. The material investigated consisted of 54 cases of HCC, 10 benign liver armours and 10 cases suspicious for HCC. All the benign liver tumours demonstrated an euploid histogram. 9 out of 10 borderline tumours were euploid while I out of 10 was suspiciously aneuploid Among HCC, 21 out of 54 were euploid, 18 out of 54 suspiciously and 15 out of 54 clearly aneuploid. 5c exceeding rate differed significantly between benign liver changes and borderline lesions (p=0.0474) as well as between borderline lesions and malignant tumours (p=0.0108). We conclude that the use of image cytometry is helpful as an additional criterion for more diagnostic accuracy in morphologically difficult cases.