A Case of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Invading the Biliary Tract -Review of the Japanese Literature-

Yasuo Tsuchiya, Yoshihiko Sano, Toshio Nakamura, Yasuhiko Umehara, Tadatoshi Ohkubo and Satoshi Nakamura^*

Department of Surgery, Fujinomiya General Hospital
^*Department of Surgery II, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine

A 63-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with right hypochondralgia. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a tumor in a dilated intrahepatic bile duct. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography also showed an elevated tumor in the right and common hepatic ducts. It was noted on cholangiography that a filling defect by the tumor intermittently appeared and disappeared. Angiography demonstrated a hypervascular lesion in the right lobe of the liver. Hepatocellular carcinoma invading the biliary tract was diagnosed. Because of tumor extension into the right hepatic duct noted at laparotomy, right lobectomy was performed. The tumor was histologically hepatocellular carcinoma which was invading the bile duct. In the literature, the prognosis of patients who undergo hepatectomies was better than that of patients treated palliatively. Hepatocellular carcinoma invading the biliary tract seldom has capsular formation and is invasive, hence adequate hepatic resection is essential to good prognosis regardless of the tumor size.

Key words
hepatocellular carcinoma invading the biliary tract, obstructive jaundice, hepatoma

Reprint requests
Yasuo Tsuchiya 2nd Department of Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
3600 Handa-cho, Hamamatsu, 431-3192 JAPAN

Accepted
April 28, 1999

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