Diagnostic Approach to Hepatic Mass Lesions and Role of Immunohistochemistry

This review provides an overview of various hepatic mass lesions and a practical diagnostic approach, including most recent immunohistochemical stains used in clinical practice. A wide variety of benign and malignant lesions present as hepatic masses, and the differential diagnosis varies. In cirrhotic liver, the commonest malignant tumor is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which needs to be differentiated from macroregenerative nodules, dysplastic nodules, and other tumors. The differential diagnosis of lesions in noncirrhotic liver in younger patients includes hepatic adenoma (HA), focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), HCC, and other primary hepatic neoplasms and metastases. In older populations, metastases remain the most common mass lesions.