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Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma repeated 3 times with invasion of portal vein and inferior vena cava: report on a rare case

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Abstract

A 65-year-old man suffered from advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in the right lobe of the liver, for which he received no treatment. His serum was positive for hepatitis C antibody. In spite of his poor prognosis, he remained in good clinical condition and at 6-month follow-up the tumor had regressed without specific treatment, as assessed both radiologically and from a decrease of a previously elevated serum tumor marker level (1st regression). The tumor regrew in size, but at 23-month follow-up could no longer be visualized radiologically (2nd regression). A follow-up computed tomography (CT) scan did not show any relapse of hepatocellular carcinoma until March 2005. At that time, a new lesion had developed in the caudate lobe and tumor size had increased to ≥10 cm in diameter, and in June 2006 had invaded the portal vein and inferior vena cava. Afterwards, the tumor lesion gradually decreased again. In June 2007, a CT scan showed a further reduction of tumor size (3rd regression). Here, we report a rare case of spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma in which spontaneous regression and recurrence were repeated 3 times.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Professor emeritus Hiromasa Ishii, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, for his suggestions and advice during the preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Yokohama Municipal Citizen’s Hospital, 56 Okazawa-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 240-8555, Japan

    Hirokazu Komatsu, Satoshi Imamura, Tomoki Shimizu, Yuya Tsunoda, Tsuyoshi Ito, Jin Imai, Shuichi Nagakubo, Yuichi Morohoshi & Yuriko Fujita

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  1. Hirokazu Komatsu
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  2. Satoshi Imamura
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  3. Tomoki Shimizu
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  6. Jin Imai
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  9. Yuriko Fujita
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Correspondence to Hirokazu Komatsu.

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Komatsu, H., Imamura, S., Shimizu, T. et al. Spontaneous regression of hepatocellular carcinoma repeated 3 times with invasion of portal vein and inferior vena cava: report on a rare case. Clin J Gastroenterol 5, 35–41 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-011-0266-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-011-0266-1

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