Abstract
Introduction
Hepatocellular adenoma (HA) is an uncommon benign hepatic tumour with the potential for malignant change or spontaneous haemorrhage. Resection has been the recommended treatment, but outcomes with other approaches are ill defined.
Methods
Demographic and outcomes data were retrospectively collected on patients diagnosed with HA at a tertiary hepatobiliary centre from 1992–2011 whom underwent resection, bland embolization or observation.
Results
In total, 52 patients with 100 adenomas were divided into single HA (n = 27), multiple HA (n = 18), and adenomatosis (n = 7) groups. Eighty-seven per cent were female and 37% had a history of hormone use. Median sizes of resected, embolized and observed adenomas were 3.6 cm, 2.6 cm and 1.2 cm, respectively. Forty-eight adenomas were resected as a result of suspicion of malignancy (39%) or large size (39%); 61% of these were solitary. Thirty-seven were embolized for suspicion of malignancy (56%) or hsemorrhage (20%); 92% of these were multifocal. Two out of three resected adenomas with malignancy were ≥10 cm and recurred locally [4%, confidence interval (CI) 1–14%]. Ninety-two per cent of the embolized adenomas were effectively treated; three persisted (8.1%, CI 2–22%). Most observed lesions did not change over time.
Conclusions
While solitary adenomas are often resected, multifocal HAs are frequently embolized. Small adenomas can safely be observed. Given low recurrence rates, select HAs can be considered for embolization.
Introduction
Hepatocellular adenoma (HA) is a rare benign hepatic tumour. Patients diagnosed with HA are usually female of reproductive age with a history of oral contraceptive (OCP) use.1 They are also found in men taking anabolic steroids or those with glycogen-storage or iron-overload disorders.2 The incidence of HA has increased from 5 patients per million in 19643 to 4 patients per 100 000 currently,4 for reasons that are unclear. In parallel, there are increased reports of disease complications such as spontaneous haemorrhage.5 In the United States, a multicentre analysis of 124 patients showed that HA rupture is associated with recent hormonal use and increasing tumour size.5 There is no consensus on whether patients with a solitary HA have different risks and complications than those with hepatic adenomatosis. Adenomatosis, defined as at least 10 lesions, has been reported in small studies to be more common in men and is historically associated with an increased risk of malignant transformation and haemorrhage.6
Histologically, hepatic adenomas are composed of normal hepatocytes, lacking biliary elements, surrounded by a stromal capsule, with decreased mitotic elements.5 The understanding of HA is evolving with subtype classifications of adenoma characteristics that may be implicated in the progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or haemorrhage. Recently, the molecular mechanism has been further defined with β-catenin mutations associated with HA at risk for HCC and hepatocyte nuclear factor 1α (HNF1α) mutations associated with steatotic lesions.7 A single-centre study of 122 patients in France showed that patients with adenomas greater than 5 cm, telangiectatic or unclassified subtypes, or male gender were more likely to have HCC and/or haemorrhage and thus should undergo resection.
Traditionally, resection has been recommended to prevent or treat malignant transformation or haemorrhage. In the last decade, less invasive alternatives to surgery have been implemented, such as radiofrequency ablation8 and transcatheter-arterial embolization.4,9 Currently, there is no agreement on the efficacy of less invasive or observational approaches to treat adenomas. This study reviews factors associated with malignant transformation and haemorrhage as well as efficacy and prognosis of different treatment modalities for patients with HA.
Methods
Permission was obtained from the Institutional Review Board for this retrospective review of 52 patients diagnosed with HA from 1992 to 2011. Demographic and outcome data were retrospectively reviewed from electronic medical records, including clinical, intra-operative and pathological data. Diagnosis was based on radiographical appearance or histology. A subset of patients in this study were discussed in a prior publication from our institution.4
Patient demographics
Patients were divided into three groups: solitary HAs, multiple HAs (2–9 lesions) and adenomatosis (≥ 10 lesions). The parameters analysed were age, gender, body mass index (BMI), current or past history of a cancer and any hormone use. Recent hormone use was defined as within 6 months of initial presentation. The comorbidities analysed were diabetes mellitus (DM), hypercholesterolaemia, Turner's syndrome, liver disease, intellectual disability and fertility disorders requiring hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Pre-operative symptoms, liver function tests (LFTs) and pre-operative biopsies were also noted.
Tumour factors
In patients treated non-operatively, a diagnosis of HA was made on imaging. Of the 36 patients with resections, 28 had slides available for retrospective histological re-review. Adenomas with questionable HCC components remained in the data analysis. One patient who was clinically reported to have an adenoma was found to have characteristics of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) on pathological review and was excluded. For adenoma subtype classification, a specialized pathologist at MSKCC classified the available tissues using the four-type Zucman–Rossi classification.7,10 Type I is steatotic which often has an HNF1α mutation (Fig. 1 and 2). Type II often has a β-catenin mutation, shows acinar structures with cytological atypia and is often confused with well-differentiated HCC. Type III is the inflammatory type with IL-6 pathway activation, sinusoidal dilatation and congestion, and thick-walled arteries. Type IV is unclassified because it has no mutations or signs of inflammation. Five slides were selected for β-catenin immunohistochemical staining to help differentiate between Type II and Type IV.
Figure 1.
Representative micrographs of subtypes of hepatocellular adenoma (HA). (a) Type I with a prominent fatty change; (b) Type II with noticeable hepatocellular nuclear atypia; and (c) Type III with telangiectatic sinusoid dilatation and scattered inflammatory cell infiltration
Figure 2.
The size of the adenoma was traced over time after embolization
Tumour size was recorded as the two largest dimensions in centimetres by pathological evaluation for those resected and by imaging for those embolized or observed. Multiple adenomas treated by serial embolization or multiple resections were coded as separate treatments. Patients were placed in multiple treatment groups if more than one treatment modality was employed.
Outcomes analysis
Outcome data included total LOS related to treatments, treatment efficacy and follow-up time. Disease status was reported as alive with disease (AWD) or no recurrence. For the small subset of patients with HCC associated with adenomas, status was indicated as AWD and no evidence of disease (NED). Death was indicated as dead of other cause (DOO), dead of unknown cause (DOU) or dead of complications (DOC). Local recurrence was defined as a new lesion at the same site of a treated lesion. Persistent lesions were also reported.
Statistical analysis
Categorical variables were presented using frequencies and percentages and compared using the chi-square test. Continuous variables were summarized using median (range) and compared using rank-based methods (Wilcoxon's test for two groups and the Kruskal–Wallis test for three groups). The failure rates were reported as percentages with confidence intervals. All statistical analyses were conducted using STATA v 8.0 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX, USA) and R v2.14 (http://www.r-project.org).
Results
Patient demographics
Between 1992 and 2011, 52 patients were identified with HA. Of these, 45 (86.5%) were female and 19 (36.5%) had a history of recent hormone use. Twenty-four patients (46%) had symptoms such as abdominal pain and 8 patients (15.4%) had elevated liver function tests. The median age of all patients was 39 years (34–49). Twenty-nine (55.8%) of the patients had more than one adenoma. There were a total of 100 lesions. The median follow-up for these patients was 1.8 years (1 day–18 years).
The median age of the three groups did not vary significantly [39 (33–50); 38 (31–43) and 44 (37–49), respectively, P = 0.35] (Table 1). The median body mass indexes (BMIs) were 23.9 kg/m2 (17.9–44.1) for single HA patients, 26.4 kg/m2 (18.3–42.7) for multiple HA patients and 27.8 kg/m2 (21.4–41.8) for the adenomatosis patients (P < 0.001). A history of some form of cancer existed in up to 20 out of 52 patients (38%) in the three study populations with no clinically significant differences (P = 0.63). Rates of recent hormone use were not different between the three groups (P = 0.92). Of the six comorbidities studied, there was no significant difference in prevalence between the three groups (P = 0.09–1). There was no difference in pre-operative symptoms between the groups (P = 0.86), or in elevated liver function tests (0 = 0.75). More patients with adenomatosis (6 out of 7 patients) had pre-operative biopsies than patients with multiple HAs (8 out of 18 patients) and single HAs (6 out of 27 patients) with significant differences between the solitary and adenomatosis groups (P = 0.01) only. The median follow-up for those resected, embolized and observed were 1.8, 4.7 and 1.6 years, respectively (Table 2). Embolized follow-up time was significantly different (P = 0.001) from resected and observed follow-up times, which were similar (P = 0.59).
Table 1.
Patient demographic data were divided into three clinical groups
| Single HA | Multiple HAs (2–9) | Adenomatosis (≥10) | P-value | All adenomas | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 27 patients (51.9%) | N = 18 patients (34.6%) | N = 7 patients (13.5%) | Between the three groups | N = 52 patients (100%) | |
| Age median (IQR) (years) | 39 (33–50) | 38 (31–43) | 44 (37–49) | 0.35 | 39 (34–49) |
| Female | 24 | 15 | 6 | 0.86 | 45 (86.5%) |
| Male | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.93 | 7 (13.5%) |
| BMI (median) | 24 (17.9–44.1) | 26 (18.3–42.7) | 28 (21.4–41.8) | <0.001 | 25.1 (17.9–44.1) |
| Any hormone use | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0.93 | 25 (48.1%) |
| Recent (within 6 months) hormone use | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0.92 | 19 (36.5%) |
| Comorbidities | |||||
| DM | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0.66 | 8 (13.4%) |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.68 | 4 (7.7%) |
| Turner's syndrome | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 4 (7.7%) |
| Liver disease | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0.49 | 6 (11.5%) |
| Intellectual disability | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.09 | 4 (7.7%) |
| Fertility treatment | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.08 | 3 (5.8%) |
| Pre-operative biopsy | 6 | 8 | 6 | 0.01 | 20 (38.5%) |
HA, hepatocellular adenoma; IQR, interquartile range; DM, diabetes mellitus.
Table 2.
Adenomas were divided into three treatment groups with follow-up time and size recorded. Median sizes between each resection group were significantly different (P < 0.01)
| Intervention | No. of patients | Median follow-up time | No. of adenomas | Median size (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resection | 35 | 1.8 years (22 days–18 years) | 48 | 3.6 (0.7–23) |
| Embolization | 13 | 4.7 years (5.1 months–13.8 years) | 37 | 2.6 (0.5–9.9) |
| Observation | 9 | 1.6 years (1 day–7.8 years) | 15 | 1.2 (0.6–6.3) |
Adenoma demographics
Of the 100 adenomas, there were 70 adenomas (70%) less than 5 cm in size, 22 adenomas (22%) that were 5 to 9.9 cm and 8 adenomas (8%) greater than 10 cm. The lesions were evenly distributed amongst each hepatic sector with 22 lesions in the right anterior, 33 in the right posterior, 19 in the left medial and 26 in the left lateral sectors. Forty-eight adenomas with a median size of 3.6 cm (0.7–23) were resected in 36 operations (Table 2). Thirty-seven adenomas with a median size of 2.6 cm (0.5–9.9) were treated by 25 embolizations. Fifteen adenomas with a median size of 1.2 cm (0.6–6.3) were observed. The median sizes between each treatment group were significantly different (P < 0.01).
Intervention
Treatment categories included either resection or bland embolization. There were a total of 43 operations including 20 wedges/segmentectomies, 15 enucleations, 7 lobectomies and one trisegmentectomy. The median estimated blood loss was 200 ml (0–10 l). The most common indications for resection were a suspicion of malignancy (14 of 36 resections) and large size (14 of 36 resections) (Table 3). The most common indication for embolization was also suspicion of malignancy (14 of 25 embolizations) (Table 3b). A clinical haemorrhage or risk of a haemorrhage was the second most common indication (5 of 25 embolizations) for embolization. Other reported indications for intervention were rapid growth with 0.5 cm/month and 1.0 cm/month increase in size for two adenomas, positron emission tomography (PET) avid lesions and an inability to discontinue hormone therapy needed for fertility or growth treatment. The majority of resections (22 of 26 resections) were of solitary lesions. The majority of embolizations (23 of 25 embolizations) were of multifocal lesions. There were three patients who had pre-operative embolizations and one who had an embolization post-resection for a local recurrence; all were placed in the resection treatment group. One patient had an embolized adenoma that disappeared but later underwent resection for recurrence and was analysed in the embolization treatment group. The most common indication for observation was a small lesion that remained stable on imaging (Table 3c).
Table 3.
(a) Indications for each resection were reported for the three clinical groups. Outcomes by resected adenomas were indicated.(b) Indications for each embolization were reported for the three clinical groups. Outcomes by embolized adenomas were indicated.(c) Indications for each observation were reported for the three clinical groups. *Patients in these three groups overlapped in all three groups making the sum larger than 52 patients. Table 3a Resection indications and outcomes
| Solitary (61.1%) | Multifocal (38.9%) | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single HA | Multiple HAs (2–9) | Adenomatosis (≥10) | ||
| Resections | 22 | 12 | 2 | 36 |
| Indication for intervention | ||||
| Suspicion of malignancy | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Large size | 9 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| Clinical haemorrhage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Growth | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| PET + | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Continuous HRT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Adenomas resected | 22 | 19 | 7 | 48 |
| Local recurrence | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 (4.2%, CI [1–14%]) |
| Patients* | 22 | 11 | 2 | 35 |
HA, hepatocellular adenoma; PET; positron emission tomography.
Table 3b.
Embolization indications and outcomes
| Solitary (8%) | Multifocal (92%) | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single HA | Multiple HAs (2–9) | Adenomatosis (≥10) | ||
| Embolizations | 2 | 16 | 7 | 25 |
| Indication for Intervention | ||||
| Suspicion of malignancy | 1 | 10 | 3 | 14 |
| Large size | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Haemorrhage | 5 | |||
| Risk of haemorrhage | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Clinical haemorrhage | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| PET + | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Continuous HRT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Adenomas embolized | 2 | 24 | 11 | 37 |
| Persistent disease | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 (8.1%, CI 2–22%) |
| Disappeared | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Decreased in size | 0 | 14 | 8 | 22 |
| Stable size | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| Patients* | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
HA, hepatocellular adenoma; PET, positron emission tomography; CI, confidence interval.
Table 3c.
Observation indications and outcomes
| Solitary (30%) | Multifocal (70%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single HA | Multiple HAs (2–9) | Adenomatosis (≥10) | Overall | |
| Observations | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| Indication for observation | ||||
| Stable disease | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Pregnant | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Withheld OCP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Adenomas observed | 3 | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| Disappeared | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Decreased in size | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Stable size | 1 | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| Patients* | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
HA, hepatocellular adenoma; OCP, oral contraceptive.
Overall, there were 20 out of 52 patients (39%) with HA who underwent a biopsy. Of the 36 resected patients, 10 (28%) had pre-operative biopsies that showed benign adenoma. Final pathological evaluation confirmed these findings in nine specimens, whereas one of these ten patients (10%) who had biopsy-proven adenoma had a final pathology showing malignant transformation. Two of these ten patients (20%) with biopsy-proven adenoma also had a haemorrhage indicated on imaging: one was related to the biopsy procedure and one was as a result of persistent bleeding after embolization. Of the 26 resected patients without a pre-operative biopsy, there were two patients (7.7%) with HCC: one with an initial HCC that recurred and one that recurred as an HCC from an adenoma. Of these 26 resected patients without pre-operative biopsies, one (3.8%) had a resection for clinical haemorrhage indicated on imaging and two patients (7.7%) were resected for rapid growth and large size, but found to have microscopic haemorrhage on final pathology. Of the 25 embolized patients, 7 patients underwent biopsies that showed benign pathology in addition to one patient who was also included in the resection group. None of these eight patients had malignant transformation or haemorrhage. Of the nine observed patients, three had biopsies showing benign adenoma in addition to two other patients with multiple adenomas who were included in the resection group. None of these five patients or the four without pre-operative biopsies went on to develop either malignant transformation or a haemorrhage. Liver pathology in addition to hepatic adenomas existed in many patients. Twenty of the 30 patients with reviewable pathology slides had steatosis and one patient had cirrhosis.
Outcomes
In the total cohort, 5 out of 52 patients (9.2%) had local recurrence or persistent disease requiring a second intervention (Table 4). Of the 48 adenomas resected, 2 single HAs that were both greater than or equal to 10 cm in size recurred locally (recurrence rate 4.2%, CI 1–14%). One patient had a local recurrence detected on magnetic resonance imaging 4 months after an initial lobectomy and underwent a second resection 10 months later. The other patient had an embolization 5.5 years after an initial enucleation. There were 2 other resected patients of 36 who developed solitary lesions in new locations in the liver 17.5 years later. The total length of stay (LOS) in the hospital for a resection was a median of 7 days (2–33).
Table 4.
The treatment and time interval between treatments for each of five treatment failures
| Group | Size of initial lesion (cm) | 1st treatment | Type of recurrence | 2nd treatment | Time interval between procedures (months) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple | 3.2 | Embolization | Persistent disease | Embolization | 3.7 | AWD |
| Multiple | 5.5 | Embolization | Persistent disease | Embolization | 4.5 | AWD |
| Single | 4.2 | Embolization | Persistent disease | Resection | 4.4 | No recurrence |
| Single | 11.5 | Resection | Local recurrence | Embolization | 66 | AWD |
| Single | 10 | Resection | Local recurrence | Resection | 10 | No recurrence |
AWD, alive with disease.
Of thirty-seven adenomas embolized, three persistent lesions (8.1%, CI 2–22%) required second interventions. All other lesions disappeared (5 adenomas), decreased in size (22 adenomas) or remained stable (7 adenomas) after one embolization (Fig. 2). The failure rate was not significantly different from that of a resection (P = 0.65). Two persistent lesions in the multiple HA group underwent second embolizations 3.7 months and 4.5 months after the initial treatment, respectively. One lesion disappeared and one decreased in size from 4.7 to 2.6 cm in 9 months. The third persistent lesion was in the single HA group and underwent a resection. The total LOS in the hospital for embolization was a median of 4 days (3–6).
Of the 15 lesions observed, 1 lesion disappeared, 3 lesions decreased in size and 11 lesions remained stable. None of these lesions progressed. The majority of lesions were less than 2 cm in diameter and the only lesion greater than 5 cm was observed while the patient underwent gastric bypass for morbid obesity. Seven out of nine of these patients were asymptomatic.
Adenoma pathology
Of the 36 patients who underwent a resection (35 from the resection group and one who was embolized and then resected), 28 had material available for classification into the four types (Table 5). The five lesions immuno-stained for β-catenin to help differentiate type II from IV were negative so these adenomas were placed in the unclassified group. Steatosis was identified in varying degrees in each of the subtypes (Table 5). Table 6 demonstrates the demographics of the patients who had malignant transformation. Three adenomas (3% of all 100 adenomas, 5.8% of 52 patients) had evidence of malignancy on final pathology (6.3% of 48 resected adenomas) (Fig. 3). All three were males (3 of 7 male patients). The three patients with HCC had 1–2 lesions and did not have any history of hormone use. None of the lesions were thought to be cancer at the time of pre-operative evaluation. Malignant transformation in the single, multiple and adenomatosis groups occurred in 2 out of 27, 1 out of 18 and none out of 7 patients, respectively (P = 0.76). Two of the patients with HCC had a local recurrence after a resection of large lesions >10 cm in size. Of the three patients with malignancy, the one patient with reviewable pathology had Type IV pathology. The third patient had multiple lesions with a pre-operative biopsy indicating a benign lesion that was HCC on final pathology. This patient died 8 years later of metastatic mucinous adenocarcinoma of the peritoneum. No patients died of HCC.
Table 5.
Adenoma pathologic subtypes
| Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steatotic | Telangiectatic | Unclassified | ||
| Patients (n) | 12 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| Molecular mutation | HNF 1 alpha | B-catenin | IL-6 pathway activation | No mutation |
| Steatosis | 12 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Table 6.
The treatment and adenoma data for the three adenomas with malignant transformation are described
| Pt | Age | M/F | Group | Hormone use within 6 months? | Size (cm) | Intervention indication | Pre-op diagnosis | 1st treatment | 2nd treatment | Final pathology | Pathology subtype | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 52 | M | Single | No | 11.5 | Suspicion of malignancy | No Biopsy | Resection | Embolization of local recurrence | HCC | NA | AWD |
| 2 | 25 | M | Single | No | 17 | Growth (0.5 cm/month) | No Biopsy | Resection | Resection of local recurrence | Adenoma (1st), HCC (2nd) | IV | NED |
| 3 | 42 | M | Multiple | No | 0.9 | Suspicion of malignancy | Adenoma | Resection | None | HCC | NA | DOO |
AWD, alive with disease; NED, no evidence of disease; DOO, dead of other cause.
Figure 3.
A representative lesion of hepatocellular adenoma (HA) with transformation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). (a) A nodular hepatocellular neoplasm with a rim of HA and transformed HCC. (b) HCC reveals increased cytological atypia, high nuclear to cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio and pseudoglandular formation. Adjacent HA comprises bland appearing hepatocytes with a low N/C ratio. (c) Well-differentiated HCC transformed from the HA
A clinical haemorrhage was suspected in four patients treated with a resection. Two of these patients had haematomas noted on gross pathology. Two patients who underwent a resection for growth and large size showed evidence of a microscopic haemorrhage. In total, there were four confirmed haemorrhages (4% of 100 all adenomas, 8.3% of 48 resected adenomas), consisting of two clinical and two microscopic hemorrhages. A haemorrhage occurred in 3 out of the 27 single HA patients, 1 out of 18 multiple HA patients and none of the 7 adenomatosis patients (P = 0.57). The median size of these HA was 5.9 cm (3–8.2).
Discussion
Determining treatment options for hepatic adenomas is important because of the increase in incidence of these liver tumours. Multiple studies have developed criteria revolving around tumour size, tumour number, hormone use, gender and more recently tumour pathology to help determine which patients require treatment.2,5,11 Historically, resection was the primary mode of treatment to prevent disease complications such as malignant transformation and haemorrhage. However, a resection is often not feasible in patients with adenomatosis. This obstacle led to expansion of the treatment algorithm to include liver transplantation.12 However, Dokmak et al. 2 concluded that the risk of complications does not increase with the number of adenomas and therefore liver transplantation is not necessary. Given the utilization of hepatic arterial embolization for HCC, it is also an option for the treatment of HA. The role of embolization and observation is, however, unclear.
Our first objective was to examine the demographics of the patients who have HA. The overall impression from the entire patient cohort is that most patients with HA are middle-aged females frequently with a history of hormone use and steatosis. However, given this is a heterogenous group, we sought to determine whether any differences existed between the three clinical groups: single HA, multiple HAs and adenomatosis. We found no differences in age, gender or recent hormone use between the three groups. In addition, we found the malignancy rate in the single, multiple and adenomatosis groups were similar. In 1985, Flejou et al. reported a higher complication rate and higher OCP use in those with adenomatosis,6 but more recent reports have disputed this.2 A higher BMI, however, correlated with the population with more adenomatous lesions as reported by Bunchorntavakul et al.13 There were higher rates of intellectual disability in the multiple HA and adenomatosis groups compared with the solitary HA group in our study. This represents patients with Turner's syndrome. Turner's syndrome is caused by monosomy X and is characterized by phenotypic features such as short stature, low set ears, webbed neck, intellectual disability, gonadal dysfunction and sterility. These patients have an increased risk of cancers, but it is unclear if this risk includes HCC.14
Malignant transformation was present in 5.8% of our population of 52 patients, which is similar to previously published rates.11,15,16 HCC was found in 3 (8.3%) of all 36 patients who were selected for resection.17 The risk of malignancy from biopsy-proven adenoma (10%) is similar to the risk without biopsy (7.7%). In our patient population, three (42.9%) of all seven males developed HCC. This high rate of malignancy is consistent with other previous reports.2 Size has also been associated with the risk of malignancy. We found that the two patients with a single adenomas and HCC were both adenomas greater than 10 cm. The third patient with HCC in our cohort was a patient with multiple hepatic adenomas who had HCC in one of the adenomas that was resected. Deneve et al. described a 4% risk of malignancy in resected hepatic adenomas, all in adenomas greater than 8 cm in size. It is likely that gender is a risk factor for malignancy in patients with both single and multiple adenomas, but it is unclear if size is a risk factor only for patients with single adenomas. A pathological review was not possible for all three patients with HCC, so the malignancy risks of different pathologic subtypes cannot be addressed in this study.
Spontaneous haemorrhage has been described as the most common complication of HA. We found a haemorrhage was present in 7.7% in our population. A biopsy was performed in patients (20%) with highly suspicious but vascularized adenomas and caused a haemorrhage in one. A smaller percentage (3.5%) underwent a resection instead of a biopsy first for a haemorrhage indicated on imaging, whereas a similar percentage (7.7%) underwent a resection and was found to have an occult haemorrhage. The rates of histologically proven haemorrhage in the single, multiple and adenomatosis groups were similar. Dokmak et al. reported that haemorrhage (as identified on imaging) was present in 21% of patients with HA.2 Pre-operative embolization may be useful to stabilize a patient with a spontaneous haemorrhage.18 In addition, embolization can be used to decrease vascularity prior to resection in adenomas that are thought to be hypervascular on pre-operative imaging. Pre-operative embolization was utilized in three of our patients.
It is difficult to make a direct comparison between resection, embolization and observation in this patient cohort. Most resections were performed for single adenomas, whereas most embolizations were performed for multifocal adenomas. The local failure rate (local recurrence or persistent disease) was, however, similar between resection (4.2%) and embolization (8.1%). There are multiple management options described for asymptomatic HAs smaller than 5 cm.2,5,9 These include observation while withholding hormones, resection, transplantation for multifocal disease, radiofrequency ablation and embolization.8,19,20 Most adenomas do not, however, regress with cessation of hormone use.4 Radiofrequency ablation is also not an optimal treatment owing to the size of many adenomas.21 In search of less invasive approaches than a resection, embolization has been utilized at this centre. A retrospective review over 24 months by Deodhar et al. examined the outcome of 8 patients treated with bland embolization. Regression was observed in 81% of the 16 lesions.4 Post-embolization, both Deodhar et al. and Stoot et al. found that adenoma tissue regressed and in some patients was not detectable on follow-up imaging.4,18 Our data, which includes patients from the Deodhar et al. study, demonstrates in a larger cohort that embolization is durable. We found that large adenomas that were embolized regressed on follow-up imaging.
Results of observing patients with adenomas were limited by the small number of patients in this group and the relatively short follow-up time for what is often a slow-growing benign tumour. In this study, 14 out of 15 lesions observed were less than 3 cm. The outcomes of observation revealed that all lesions in the nine patients disappeared, decreased in size or remained stable. The one patient with an adenoma that regressed was a 22-year-old male with a 0.9-cm size adenoma that regressed over 2.7 years along with three other lesions that were embolized. None of the observed patients developed complications. Of the 15 lesions that were observed, 6 were in patients who were never exposed to HRT and 1 lesion remained stable when HRT was withheld. Deneve et al. reported observing patients with similar characteristics (observation for lesions <3 cm, asymptomatic, not growing).5 Although follow-up is relatively short for these slow-growing tumors, it is reasonable to consider observation in patients with small, asymptomatic tumors that appear consistent with adenomas on imaging studies.
The data from this tertiary referral centre with a concentrated proportion of patients harbouring single and multifocal adenomas shows that embolization and observation are reasonable treatment options in select patients. With increased OCP use, females with solitary lesions that are suspicious for malignancy and large size should undergo resection as should males given the high risk of malignancy associated with male gender. Vigilance in staining and subtyping resected lesions would help future risk stratification for developing HCC. Females with multifocal disease who have lesions suspicious of malignancy or concerning for haemorrhage owing to hypervascularity should be considered for embolization. Smaller lesions may be observed safely. With low local recurrence and adenoma persistence, gender, radiological appearance, vascularity and size can be used to indicate appropriate treatments to prevent malignant transformation and haemorrhage. Given the success of embolization in patients with multifocal disease, it is reasonable to consider expanding the indications for embolization in select patients.
Conflicts of interest
None declared.
References
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