The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatocellular carcinoma/liver cancer):
Liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts – Pancreas (pancreas) (K70-K77; K80-K87).
- Hepatic insufficiency (dysfunction of the liver with partial or complete failure of its metabolic functions)/hepatic failure.
- Complications of liver cirrhosis, eg.
- Esophageal variceal hemorrhage; frequency of hemorrhage depending on Child-Pugh stage:
- Child A cirrhosis: 20-40%.
- Child C cirrhosis: – 85 %
- Gastrointestinal bleeding (gastrointestinal bleeding).
- Sepsis (blood poisoning)
- Kidney failure
For more see below liver cirrhosis / sequelae or complications.
- Esophageal variceal hemorrhage; frequency of hemorrhage depending on Child-Pugh stage:
Neoplasms – tumor diseases (C00-D48).
Metastasis occurs mainly in:
- Lung
- Lymph nodes
Less common are the following localizations:
- Brain
- Skin
- Heart
- Peritoneum (abdominal peritoneum) → ascites (abdominal dropsy).
- Pleura (pleura)
- Thyroid gland
- Skeleton
Prognostic factors
- Point system for determining survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: for this purpose, classification into immunological risk groups. One point is given in each case for a high concentration of CD8+ T cells or IL-33 in tumor tissue or liver tissue close to the tumor.Assessment: patients with two points had significantly longer survival than patients with one or no points. Classification:
- 0 points: high risk
- 1 point: medium risk
- 2 points: low risk
- Independent risk factors for late recurrence two years after resection:
- Male gender
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Tumor diameter > 5 cm
- Macroscopic and microscopic vascular invasion by tumor cells.