Multicentric hepatocellular carcinoma following phosphate diethylstilbestrol therapy for prostatic cancer

This paper reports an autopsy case of a 78-year-old male with multiple nodules in the liver developed after long-termed administration of phosphate diethylstilbestrol (PDES) for prostatic cancer. Large part of these nodules were suspected to be well differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma with high level of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) up to 3,400 ng/ml, but a part of them was evaluated to be a borderline between hepatocellular carcinoma and adenoma with mild cellular atypism. The liver other than the nodules showed liver fibrosis associated with liver cell dysplasia and peliosis hepatis-like change. This is a unique autopsy case of hepatocellular carcinoma closely related to diethylstilbestrol (DES) therapy for prostatic cancer.