Paraneoplastic syndromes in primary liver-cell carcinoma: experience in Ibadan, Nigeria

Primary liver cell carcinoma (PLC) is common in Africa. It represents the commonest malignancy in the Nigerian males. White reports of paraneoplastic syndrome associated with PLC abound from the Western World--a geographic area of low incidence of the tumour--there is a paucity of information from the African continent generally, and specifically from Nigeria. This prospective study analyses the relative incidences of recognized syndromes in fifty Nigerians with PLC. Alpha-foetoproteinemia (51%) and hypercholesterolaemia (33%) are common while hypoglycemia (9%) and hypercalcaemia (4%) are uncommon. No case of porphyria cutanea tarda was encountered. Our findings are compared with reported incidences in the literature. The pathogenetic mechanisms of these syndromes are briefly reviewed.