Abstract
In this report, we proposed a case of a 25-year-old woman with large tumor of the liver. For approximately two years she received female sex hormones and other drugs to treat threatened abortion and to prevent infertility.
On laboratory examination liver function tests were normal: α-fetoprotein was negative, but hepatic scintigram revealed enlargement of the right hepatic lobe with presumable cold areas and enlarged spleen. Exploratory laparotomy showed a large hepatic tumor which had developed from the underside of the right hepatic lobe and extended to the underside of left the lobe. It appeared to be massive and benign, but was not excisable; only biopsies were taken. Biopsies yielded histological findings of focal nodular liver-cell hyperplasia, not an adenoma.
We suggested that female sex hormone may contribute to the liver-cell hyperplasia development. And, in view of the virtual absence of female hormone receptors in the liver, the hepatic action of female hormones may consist of an increase in prolactin receptors, a resultant increase in the hepatic action of prolactin, and also the effect of thyroid hormone.
