1990 Volume 29 Issue 4 Pages 373-378
Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling indices (LI) of liver biopsied specimens from 27 control liver cirrhosis patients (control LC) without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 26 cirrhotic patients with HCC, and from 6 control subjects were examined using an in vitro BrdU labeling technique. The mean BrdU LI±S.E. of HCC cancerous portion, HCC non-cancerous cirrhotic portion, control LC, and control subjects were 6.6±0.8%, 2.7±0.3%, 1.7±0.3% and 0.25±0.09%, respectively. Interestingly, there was a significant difference (p <0.025) between the non-cancerous LC portion and control LC. While 25 of 26 non-cancerous LC portion of HCC patients were in the high LI group ( ?? 1.4%), 15 of 27 in the control LC were in the low LI group (<1.4%) (p<0.001). Of the 12 control LC with high LI, 6 developed HCC within 2 years, whereas only one of the 15 control LC with low LI developed HCC (p <0.05). In conclusion, HCC may develop in cirrhotic patients with high DNA synthetic potency.