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. 2011 Feb;54(2):300-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2010.06.037. Epub 2010 Sep 7.

Pre-operative liver biopsy in cirrhotic patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma represents a safe and accurate diagnostic tool for tumour grading assessment

Antonio Colecchia  1 , Eleonora Scaioli, Lucia Montrone, Amanda Vestito, Anna Rita Di Biase, Martina Pieri, Antonia D'Errico-Grigioni, Maria Letizia Bacchi-Reggiani, Matteo Ravaioli, Gian Luca Grazi, Davide Festi
Affiliations

Pre-operative liver biopsy in cirrhotic patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma represents a safe and accurate diagnostic tool for tumour grading assessment

Antonio Colecchia et al. J Hepatol. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Background & aims: Knowledge of pre-operative tumour grade is crucial in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) because it can influence recurrence and survival after surgery. The accuracy of pre-operative needle core biopsy (NCB) in tumour grading has been assessed in only a few studies with conflicting results. Our aim was to determine the long-term safety and the overall accuracy of NCB in assessing tumour grading in subjects who had undergone liver resection for a single HCC.

Methods: Eighty-one cirrhotic patients with HCC who had undergone NCB before liver resection were selected. Only patients with a single HCC and with at least a five-year-follow-up were included. Tumour grading was scored according to a modified Edmondson-Steiner classification: well/moderately (low grade) vs poorly-differentiated (high grade).

Results: In the 81 patients with a solitary HCC (mean size 4.1 ± 2.3cm) tumour grade was correctly identified by NCB in 74 out of 81 (91.4%) HCCs. NCB overall sensitivity and specificity were 65% and 98.1%, respectively, with a PPV of 92% and an NPV of 91%. No major complications (in particular tumour seeding) were observed. The overall survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 83%, 62%, and 44%, respectively; the recurrence rate after a 5-year-follow-up was 56.2% for low grade and 82.3% for high grade tumours (p<0.007).

Conclusions: Pre-operative NCB can be performed on early (<5 cm) HCC cirrhotic patients because it provides histologically useful information for HCC management with good accuracy and a low complication rate.

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