Benign Liver tumours

Hepatocyte adenoma - may be multiple, often driven by exogenous steroids, can be fatal if rupture

Bile duct adenoma - lots of tiny white nodules

Haemangioma - often incidental finding on liver imaging

Focal nodular hyperplasia - youg females, regenerative arterialised nodule - removed as hard to tell if always benign

Malignant Liver tumours

Hepatocellular carcinoma - usually in Cirrhosis (Hep C/B), alpha fetoprotein (AFP) as tumour marker

Cholangiocarcinoma - bile duct cell malignancy due to chronic inflammation, aggressive difficult to resect

Angiosarcoma - aggressive tumour of blood vessels, a/w toxins vinyl chloride, thorotrast

Secondary Liver tumours

Majority of liver tumours as secondary. Most commonly from: lung, breast, colon, pancreas.

  • Multiple whitish nodules
  • May replace large volumes of liver before function is compromised