Survey of primary liver tumors and oral contraceptive use

Abstract

The American College of Surgeons' survey data on 378 female and 165 male cases of primary liver tumors reported by 477 hospitals in the United States during 1970--1975 are presented. In males, 91.5% of the tumors were malignant, confirming the rarity of benign liver tumors in males. Among females, 43.9% were malignant and 56.1% were benign. Of the 212 benign tumors, 96 were hepatic cell adenomas and 58 were focal nodular hyperplasias. A positive history of oral contraceptive use was found in nearly half of all tumors, 65% of benign tumors, 74% of hepatic cell adenomas, and 74% of focal nodular hyperplasias. High frequencies of benign tumors were observed in the age group 20--30 yr. More than 80% of the tumors in this age group were found in oral contraceptive users. Symptomatology was more severe among users. No case of intraperitoneal bleeding was observed in nonusers. The findings confirm the suggested association between use of oral contraceptives and hepatic cell adenomas and focal nodular hyperplasias.

Systematic review of haemorrhage and rupture of hepatocellular adenomas

“…Of a total of 790 articles screened, 28 articles describing a series of patients with HCA, and reporting the total number of patients with HCA in which haemorrhage and rupture occurred, were included in the analysis ( Fig. )3–6, 8–31.…”

Hepatic Lesions Caused by Anabolic and Contraceptive Steroids

“…have been reviewed by the present author [73]. Several series have since been reported [75,105,152], although some of the cases were included in previous reports [23,24,15 11. The largest series (38 cases) was collected in a national survey of all primary liver tumors (1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975) mary cancer of the liver among women in the U.S. A.…”

The 1999 James Ewing Lecture: In Pursuit of Molecules of Oncogenesis and Neoplastic Therapy

“…We now know that estrogenic exposure enhances the frequency of endometrial carcinoma, hepatic tumors, and vaginal adenocarcinoma. [35][36][37] Although a single molecular/hormonal mechanism may not be comprehensively responsible for breast tumorigenesis, it is likely that exposure of ductal epithelium to bioavailable estrogens, with resultant cumulative mitotic activity, is the basic mechanism responsible for neoplastic transformation.…”