Characteristic clinical features of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with Budd-Chiari syndrome: evidence of different carcinogenic process from hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a known risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Considering the pathophysiological mechanism of BCS, BCS-associated HCC may have a different carcinogenic process to hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated HCC, resulting in different characteristic clinical features.

Methods: The clinical, radiological and histopathological characteristics of 15 HCCs associated with BCS were analysed and compared with 211 HBV-associated HCCs.

Transforming growth factor-beta1 as a useful serologic marker of small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Although alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a useful serologic marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), it has been reported insufficiently sensitive in detecting small HCCs. Plasma transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta1) has been reported to be elevated in HCC patients compared with liver cirrhosis patients. It has been reported that TGFbeta1 mRNA was overexpressed in HCC, especially in patients with small HCC and well-differentiated HCC compared with patients with liver cirrhosis.