DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS OF HEPATIC TUMOR MANIFESTATIONS IN BIOPSY DIAGNOSIS - IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DIFFERENTIATION OF HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

Histological differentiation of primary hepatocellular carcinoma from other hepatic tumors in particular from liver metastases can be difficult in biopsy material if only conventional morphological methods are applied. Immunohistochemical detection of AFP expression in the tumor tissue is often of limited use since only up to 50 % of primary hepatocellular carcinomas express AFP and furthermore other tumors (e.g. germ cell tumors) can be AFP-positive as well. According to our experience, however, the epithelium-specific glycoprotein-antibody HEA 125 is of decisive importance as it reliably recognizes epithelial cells and shows a negative reaction in normal and neoplastic hepatocytes.