Diagnosis of Pre-HCC Disease by Hepatobiliary-Specific Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review

We first proposed a new concept, pre-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) disease, to describe the precancerous condition of HCC, which has received scant attention from clinicians. Pre-HCC disease is defined as chronic liver injury concurrent with hepatic low- or high-grade dysplastic nodular lesions. Precise diagnosis of pre-HCC disease may prevent or arrest HCC and contribute to relieving the HCC burden worldwide, although noninvasive diagnosis is difficult and biopsy is generally required. Fortunately, recent advances and extensive applications of hepatobiliary-specific contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging will facilitate the noninvasive identification and characterization of pre-HCC disease. This review briefly discusses the new concept of pre-HCC disease and offers an overview of the role of hepatobiliary-specific contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of pre-HCC disease.