[Ultrastructural characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma]

The results of a complex (histological and electron microscopic) study of surgical specimens from 22 patients (15 men and 7 women aged 17 to 72 years) are presented. The histological study diagnosed low-, moderate, and high-grade hepatocellular carcinoma in 5, 12, 5 patients, respectively. The electron microscopic study established that low-grade cancer cells preserved to a greater extent the principal specific ultrastructural organization that was characteristic of normal hepatocytes. The moderate-grade type was presented as different ratio of tumor cells of various grades. At the same time, the degree of ultrastructural differentiation of tumor cells did not depend on the histological (trabecular, solid) structure of the tumor. The high-grade type was characterized by the signs of significant cell structural and functional rearrangement; changes in the number, sizes, and shape of intracellular masses (a nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic network, lysosomes). Moreover, the destruction of the intracellular matrix and vascular basal membrane, reduced contacts between the tumor cells with the latter being attached to the thinned vascular wall underlie local infestation and neoplastic metastasis.