Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Patients With Increasing Alpha-Fetoprotein But No Mass on Ultrasound
published online 20 December 2005.
A 63-year-old man with hepatitis C virus–induced cirrhosis is referred to the clinic for evaluation of an increase in the level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) to 400 ng/mL, which was detected in a blood test performed by the primary care physician. The patient is active at work and asymptomatic. He has compensated cirrhosis and well-preserved liver function, with a serum albumin level of 38 g/L, a serum bilirubin level of 1.6 mg/dL, and a prothrombin time of 1.2 international normalized ratio. Physical examination shows a liver span of 4 cm and splenomegaly without ascites. The ultrasound examination shows hepatomegaly without any liver mass, preserved portal blood flow, and splenomegaly.
⁎Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Group, Liver Unit, Digestive Disease Institute, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
‡Division of Liver Diseases and Recanati Miller Transplantation Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
Address requests for reprints to: Josep M. Llovet, MD, Division of Liver Diseases, RM Transplantation Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1425 Madison Avenue, 11F-70 Box 1104, New York, New York 10029; fax: (212) 241-2138.
J. M. Llovet, Professor of Research–Institut Catala de Recerca Avançada (ICREA), is supported by the ICREA and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias 2002–2005, PI02/0596).
PREVIEW