The Washout of Hepatocellular Carcinoma at Portal Venous Phase vs. Equilibrium Phase: Radiological and...

Portal venous or late (equilibrium) phase washout is one of the well-known major imaging features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, these two washouts stand for distinct intratumoral pathophysiological states and should be considered separately. Positive portal venous phase (PVP) washout has been shown to be related to high grade HCC, poor post operative survival rate, and positive PD-L1 or VETC. In contrast, there is indirect evidence that negative washout at equilibrium or late phase (EqP) may be related to biliary/stem cell subtype, which is biologically aggressive, and associated with an immune hot tumor microenvironment. Thus, although these two washouts represent different intratumoral pathophysiological conditions, both are closely related to biological aggressiveness or tumor microenvironment, which may be associated with the response to systemic therapies or post-surgical survival. In contemporary practice, gadoxetate-enhanced MRI restricts washout assessment in the PVP, whereas extracellular agent CT permits assessment in both the PVP and EqP; accordingly, this review addresses PVP washout on CT or extracellular agent MRI, PVP washout on gadoxetate-enhanced MRI, and EqP washout on CT. When washout information is integrated with other clinico-radiological features, more precise prediction of patient survival or response to systemic therapies would become possible in the future.