Hepatitis Community

There are many types of benign liver tumors and I will discuss five of the most common types: hemangioma, hepatic adenomas, focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), the solitary liver cyst, and nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH). For a discussion of malignant liver tumors please refer to www.liverdisease.com.

In general, they occur more frequently in women than in men. They are usually discovered by chance during the evaluation of nonrelated symptoms. Liver function tests (LFTs) are usually normal in people with benign liver tumors. In rare circumstances, these benign tumors can become so massive that a person may go to the doctor for abdominal discomfort caused by an enlarged liver. In these uncommon circumstances, results from blood tests occasionally reveal mildly elevated AP or GGTP levels.

There are no blood tests that specifically indicate that a tumor is in fact benign. Thus, the doctor may be uncertain as to whether the tumor is, in fact, benign. While malignant liver tumors may metastasize (spread to other organs, most commonly the lungs), benign liver tumors are always confined to the liver. Diagnosing the specific nature of the tumors can generally be done using a variety of radiological techniques (imaging studies) combined with the patient's medical history. When the diagnosis remains uncertain, a liver biopsy is generally performed. Since many of these tumors have an abundance of blood vessels, liver biopsy in some cases carries an increased risk of bleeding. A smaller than normal needle, or an aspirate of liver fluid, can be used to decrease the occurrence of this potential complication.
Treatment of benign lesions is generally conservative. Surgery is considered primarily in cases where the tumor is causing significant abdominal pain, or if there is a high risk of rupture of the tumor. Furthermore, surgery should be done if the benign nature of the tumor cannot be confidently established, or if it is felt that the tumor has a risk of progression to a malignancy.