Hepatic clear cell carcinoma associated with hypoglycemia and hypercholesterolemia

Two autopsy cases of clear cell variant of hepatocellular carcinoma were reported in which both hypoglycemia and hypercholesterolemia occurred simultaneously. The tumor consisted of lipid-laden clear cells with centrally located nuclei. Glycogen was also stored in the cytoplasm in Case 2 but not in Case 1. In reference to the literature, it was suggested that hypoglycemia and hypercholesterolemia are due to biochemically heterogeneous mechanisms that vary from patient to patient and may involve diversion, hitherto undescribed, of glucose metabolism of tumor tissue in the direction of lipogenesis and/or glycogenesis.