Studies on the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma in HBV-negative alcoholic cirrhotics

Ninety five cases of HBV marker-negative cirrhosis with excess alcohol intake were examined clinicopathologically to obtain some clues and insights into the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The following data were obtained: cases were divided morphologically into 37 cases of macronodular cirrhosis (MacCir), 16 mixed cirrhosis (MixCir), and 42 micronodular cirrhosis (MicCir), the mean age at death was the oldest in MacCir (61 yrs), the youngest in MicCir (51 yrs), and intermediate in MixCir (59 yrs), association of HCC was common both in MacCir and MixCir (78 and 63%, respectively) but infrequent in MicCir (17%), all livers of MicCir with HCC had broad collapse and a small number of macronodules in non-cancerous areas and the mean age of them was older than that of MicCir without both the collapse and macronodules (56 vs 48 yrs), in total cases, the mean age at death of patients with HCC was 7 years older than that without HCC (60 vs 53 yrs), the mean liver weight was the largest in MicCir (1,211 g), the smallest in MacCir (829 g), and intermediate in MixCir (1,022 g), the incidence of MacCir was significantly higher in patients who had given up alcohol for more than one year before death than those without abstinence, and neither the subtypes of cirrhosis nor the incidence of HCC was significantly related to the total amount of alcohol intake. These data indicate that the development of HCC in HBV-negative alcoholics with cirrhosis occurs in relation to the development of macronodules and loss of liver weight, most likely along with the prolongation of the life span.