Moving toward an understanding of the metastatic process in hepatocellular carcinoma

摘要

Clinical factors contributing to the therapeutic challenge of hepathocellular carcinoma(HCC)are manifold: tumors arise often in patients with compromised liver function, therefore limiting therapeutic options; symptoms develop only at later stages of tumor progression, and tumors tend to invade normal structures or occur in multiple locations simultaneously. Ninety percent of patients with tumors larger than 5 cm will have synchronous intrahepatic metastases at the time of presentation. In the majority of patients undergoing partial hepatectomy for HCC, intra-hepatic of the patients who die occur.