Retrospective Clinicopathologic Correlation of Gross Tumor Size of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Our study shows that in most instances (81%), imaging by CT or MRI overestimates true gross pathologic size of HCC. Nineteen percent of tumors appeared smaller on preoperative imaging than on the final pathologic specimen. Radiation therapy utilizing a 0.5 or 1.0 cm margin around the radiographic tumor would have encompassed the gross pathologic tumor in 93% and 100% of cases, respectively.