A Case of Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Korea

Choi, Kyoo Wan; Paik, Seung Woon; Rhee, Jong Chul; Koh, Kwang Cheol; Lee, Suk Ho; Lee, Joon Hyeok; Lee, Jong Kyun; Oh, Young Ryun; Kang, In Koo; Lee, Kyu Taek; Park, Cheol Keun; Cho, Jae Won

Abstract

Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLHCC) is a distinct variant of ordinary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is very rare in the Orient. Contrary to ordinary HCC, the FLHCC has very good prognosis and usually occurs in adolescents and young adults without sexual preference. In addition, it is rarely associated with liver cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus. The FLHCC presents a high resectability rate. Most cases of FLHCC have been reported in the Western countries and only nine cases have been reported in the Orient. We present here a case of FLHCC observed in a 48 year old man. The patient had no subjective symptoms when the tumor was revealed by ultrasonography. The patient had many ch'arateristics of FLHCC (i.e,, no association with HBV or HCV, normal range of alphafetoprotein, no evidence of cirrhosis). However, he was older than average-aged patient with FLHCC. The tumor was removed by right antero-inferior segmententomy of the liver and diagnosed as FLHCC. To our knowledge, this report is the fast case in Korea.