Cytometrical difference between cirrhotic livers with and without hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

The knowledge of precancerous condition of the liver could be of practical value for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, the cytometrical analysis was done on the cirrhotic portions of 16 livers with hepatoma and of 17 livers without hepatoma. The following parameters of hepatocytic nuclei were estimated on histologic sections NVO, the number of nuclei in a unit volume of liver tissue; D, the mean of nuclear diameters; S, the standard deviation of nuclear diameters (i.e. the degree of anisokaryosis); and N/C, the nucleoplasmic volume ratio. Nvo and N/C were significandy larger, and D and S smaller in cirrhotic livers with hepatoma than in those without hepatoma (p<0.05). This result suggests that the cirrhotic parenchyma of livers with hepatoma, which is regarded to be in precancerous condition, could be characterized by hyperplasia of small hepatocytes with increased ratio of N/C.