[Why are metastases in cirrhotic livers so rare?]

Metastases in livers with cirrhosis are a rare event in comparison to metastases in normal livers. This fact is of great importance for clinical differential diagnosis of tumours of the liver. High metalloproteinase inhibitor contents and especially altered lectins or lectin binding sites in cirrhosis of the liver may help to explain the rare event "metastasis in cirrhosis".