[Symptoms of hepatocellular carcinoma. Laboratory tests used for its diagnosis and screening]

Early stage hepatocellular carcinoma is a symptom-free disease. Local and general symptoms occur due to the growth of the tumor tissue and the infiltration of the surrounding blood vessels. Illness progression is indicated by the development of abdominal discomfort, cachexia, therapy-resistant decompensation of previously compensated cirrhosis and in severe cases, the thrombosis of the portal vein or the hepatic veins. Characteristic laboratory findings are the quickly deteriorating blood and liver function tests results, the occurrence of haemostatic disorders and occasional hypoglycemia and/or hypercalcemia. To clarify the etiology and to identify high risk patients, we need to differentiate alcohol-, drug- or chemical-induced hepatic disorders, viral hepatitis B, C and Delta, metabolic disorders and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In the case of focal hepatic lesions, persistently elevated alfa fetoprotein levels have a high diagnostic value. At levels over 200 ng/ml, the positive predictive value is >90%. Other, less commonly measured biomarkers are the glycosilated alfa fetoprotein-L3 and the vitamin K-deficiency induced des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin. The risk of tumor occurrence is multiple in patients with HbeAg positive chronic hepatitis B if the virus is of genotype C with mutations in the 1762 and 1764 locations of the core promoter region. Abdominal ultrasound and measurement of alfa fetoprotein is recommended every 6 months for high risk individuals, or every 3-4 months over an 18-24 months period for patients with hepatic lesions of <1cm and of unknown malignancy.