瓜田 純久, 貴島 佳世, 武藤 ます江, 中谷 尚登, 青柳 徹二, 伊原 文恵, 松崎 浩司, 岩崎 格, 飯田 和成, 成木 行彦, 大塚 幸雄

Yoshihisa URITA, Kayo KIJIMA, Masue MUTOH, Naoto NAKATANI, Tetsuji AOYAGI, Fumie IHARA, Hiroshi MATSUZAKI, Tadashi IWASAKI, Kazunari IIDA, Yukihiko NARUKI, Sachio OHTSUKA

東邦大学第1内科

First Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine

キーワード : Natural history, Small hepatocellular carcinoma, Ultrasonography, Doubling time

Natural growth was studied by ultrasonography in 6 patients with a small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of less than 3 cm in diameter after a change of arteriographic findings. Initial tumor size ranged between 1.0 and 2.5 cm. The observation period ranged from 730 to 1703 days, with a median of 1277 days. The tumor volume doubling time (DT) was 260±105 days. DT of AFP was 498.4±499.5 days. DT ratio (AFP/tumor volume) was 2.12±1.53. Since the DT of the tumor volume was shorter than that of AFP, it is reasonable for us to perform follow-up examinations by ultrasonography. It was reported that the DT of HCC was longer than that of the other cancers, and it was classified into a rapidly growing type and a slowly growing type. The growing speed of these 6 patients was very slow and they had a comparatively good prognosis in spite of not having been treated for HCC. A better prognosis is expected if we treat these small HCC undetected by angiogram before the tumor grows.