The variable course of primary hepatocellular carcinoma

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Abstract
Analysis of the clinical course in 85 patients with histologically proved primary hepatocellular carcinoma showed that 73 followed the classic pattern of the disease with a rapid onset and a quick demise. Howeoer, in I2 patients the course was longer in that the duration of illness was over 2 years. This was largely accounted for by the duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis. No clinical differences could be discerned between these 12 patients and the other 73, and survival once diagnosis had been made was no different. The frequency of an underlying cirrhosis in the whole series was 58 per cent. The course of these patients differed in no way from those without cirrhosis except that the age hepatocellular carcinoma presented was older. One patient who received no specific therapy lived for 4 years from the time of diagnosis, and in each of the treatment groups there were occasional patients surviving for several years.

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