Pathobiological and Radiological Approach For Hepatocellular Carcinoma Subclassification

Many advances have been made in the imaging diagnosis and in the histopathological evaluation of HCC. However, the classic imaging and histopathological features of HCC are still inadequate to define patient’s prognosis. We aimed to find the link between new proposed morphovascular patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features to identify pre-operatory markers of biologically aggressive HCC. Thirty-nine liver nodules in 22 patients were consecutively identified. Histopathological analysis and immunohistochemistry for CD34 and Nestin were performed to identify the four different HCC morphovascular patterns. MRI was performed using gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid. Three out of four morphovascular HCC patterns showed peculiar MRI features: in particular Pattern D (solid aggressive HCCs with CD34+/Nestin+ new-formed arteries) were isointense on T1-WI in 83% of cases and hyperintense on T2-WI in 50%. Five histologically-diagnosed HCC were diagnosed as non-malignant nodules on MRI due to their early vascularization and low aggressiveness (Pattern A). The comparison between histology and MRI confirms that a subclassification of HCC is possible in a pre-operatory setting. MRI seems to reinforce once more the identity of the different morphovascular HCC patterns and the possibility to pre-operatively identify HCCs with features of biological aggressiveness.