Peripheral endothelial cells are not reliable in differentiating primary benign and malignant hepatocellular lesions in fine needle aspirates of the liver

The distinction of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from benign lesions of the liver in fine needle aspiration (FNA) specimens can be problematic. In an attempt to separate well‐differentiated HCC from benign hepatocellular lesions, the presence of tissue fragments displaying peripheral endothelial ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cytopathology (Oxford) 2002-06, Vol.13 (3), p.145-151
Main Authors: YU, GORDON H., GUSTAFSON, KAREN S., PAN, SHIEN-TUNG, WETHERINGTON, R. WESLEY
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biopsy, Needle
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology
cytology
Diagnosis, Differential
endothelial cells
Endothelium - cytology
Endothelium - pathology
Female
fine needle aspiration
hepatocellular carcinoma
Humans
Liver - cytology
Liver - pathology
Liver - surgery
Liver Neoplasms - pathology
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The distinction of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from benign lesions of the liver in fine needle aspiration (FNA) specimens can be problematic. In an attempt to separate well‐differentiated HCC from benign hepatocellular lesions, the presence of tissue fragments displaying peripheral endothelial cells (PE) has been proposed in a previous study as a useful feature in favour of malignancy. In this study, we evaluated slides from 59 cases of liver masses undergoing FNA (19 HCC, 40 benign) and evaluated them for the presence of tissue fragments containing PE. We found that 90% of cases of HCC contained tissue fragments in which PE were either focally present or abundant. However, 68% of cases containing only benign hepatocytes also contained tissue fragments in which PE were at least focally present. In addition, it appears that within the group of benign lesions, the presence of PE was related to the overall cellularity of the specimen rather than the specific nature of the lesion. Thus, the presence of PE in tissue fragments does not, in isolation, appear to be a useful morphological feature for the separation of benign and malignant hepatocellular lesions in FNA material.
ISSN:0956-5507
1365-2303
DOI:10.1046/j.1365-2303.2002.00406.x