Spontaneous Regression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Its Imaging Course Leading to Complete Disappearance

Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare phenomenon. We followed a detailed clinical course of a spontaneous and complete disappearance of HCC during a short interval. A 73-year-old man with hepatitis B virus infection presented with a 15-mm mass in the right anterior super...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCase reports in oncology Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 94 - 100
Main Authors Okano, Akihiro, Ohana, Masaya
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 20.02.2015
Karger Publishers
Subjects
Complete disappearance
Hepatic angiography
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Imaging course
Ischemia
Published: February 2015
Spontaneous regression
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Spontaneous regression
Hepatic angiography
Ischemia
Complete disappearance
Imaging course
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare phenomenon. We followed a detailed clinical course of a spontaneous and complete disappearance of HCC during a short interval. A 73-year-old man with hepatitis B virus infection presented with a 15-mm mass in the right anterior superior segment of the liver. The mass was diagnosed as HCC by imaging findings. We found an elevated serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) level of 748 ng/ml. The tumor regressed to 6 mm on imaging examination, and the AFP serum level decreased to 87.8 ng/ml 1 month after the diagnostic hepatic angiography. Therefore, the patient was followed up without any treatment for HCC. The tumor disappeared 5 months later when the AFP serum level was 5.0 ng/ml. The diagnostic hepatic angiography might have had some effect on the spontaneous regression of HCC in the present case.
ISSN:1662-6575
1662-6575
DOI:10.1159/000375486