Predictors of Benign Status in Liver Tumors Under 3 cm in Diameter Misdiagnosed as Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: The clinical features of benign liver lesions misdiagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma have not been fully described.

Patients and methods: This study included 187 patients who underwent hepatectomy at the Kyushu University Hospital following a diagnosis of solitary HCC of ≤3 cm in diameter.

Results: Following hepatectomy, 9.6% patients were pathologically diagnosed with benign liver lesions. Univariate analysis showed that patient age ≤67 years, negativity for hepatitis C virus antigen, lesion size ≤1.5 cm, normal level of tumor markers, and absence of increase in tumor size were associated with benign lesions. Patient age ≤67 years and absence of tumor size increase were independent predictors of benign lesions.

Conclusion: Benign liver lesions misdiagnosed as HCC were not infrequent, accounting for approximately 10% of resected cases. Age ≤67 years and absence of tumor size increase were independent predictors of benign liver lesions, and may help in the correct diagnosis of HCC.

Keywords: Benign lesion; hepatectomy; hepatocellular carcinoma; misdiagnosed; tumor size.