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BACKGROUND: The surgical results for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) are not necessarily satisfactory. The resectional therapy for small HCC was evaluated to elucidate its benefits and limitations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were analyzed concerning 52 patients having small HCC of

As new options for cancer treatment become available, it becomes more important to determine which treatments are most appropriate for particular patients. The identification of new prognostic factors seems likely to provide useful information about which patients are most likely to need more aggressive therapy and which patients are likely to enjoy a favorable outcome with minimal treatment. One characteristic of cancer cells that may prove useful as a prognostic factor is the DNA content. The advent of automated laboratory techniques has made it practical to measure DNA in cancer cells on a cell-by-cell basis. One method for accomplishing this if flow cytometry; researchers have now evaluated the use of flow cytometry in establishing prognostic factors for hepatoblastoma, a form of liver cancer. Fifteen hepatoblastoma specimens were examined. The researchers found that nine of the specimens had DNA measurements that were consistent with a diploid chromosome complement. This is the normal number of chromosomes, which in humans is 23 pairs. The remaining six tumors were aneuploid, which indicates an abnormal number of chromosomes, although some of these tumors were a mixture of both diploid and aneuploid cells. The presence of a normal diploid number of chromosomes was associated with a more favorable prognosis. The authors indicate that the five-year survival rate of the patients with diploid tumors was 100 percent, in contrast with the 20 percent five-year survival rate for patients with aneuploid tumors. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)