Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pulmonary nodules present a diagnostic dilemma in liver transplant recipients because of the broad differential diagnosis involved. Eleven of 155 (7.1%) liver transplant recipients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pittsburgh, developed pulmonary nodules. The underlying etiology included aspergillosis (3 cases), cryptococcosis (2), metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (1), posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (1), Staphylococcus aureus (1), squamous cell carcinoma (1), adenocarcinoma of unknown primary site (1), and undifferentiated carcinoma (1). A review of the literature revealed 22 other liver transplant recipients with pulmonary nodules. There appears to be a definite relationship between time since transplantation and etiology of the nodule. Aspergillosis and bacterial infections appear early (within the first month), whereas nocardiosis, coccidiomycosis, tuberculosis, and cryptococcosis occur from 3 to 24 months posttransplantation. Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma is a relatively common cause of pulmonary nodule and appears from 2 months to 2 years posttransplantation. Detection of skin lesions (indicating nocardiosis or cryptococcosis) and positive serologic tests may further narrow the diagnosis. However, radiographic appearances of nodules of differing etiology are relatively nonspecific, necessitating biopsy in virtually all cases.
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PMID:Pulmonary nodules in liver transplant recipients. 946 63

Monoclonal antibodies are used to detect serum antigens associated with specific malignancies. These tumor markers are most useful for monitoring response to therapy and detecting early relapse. With the exception of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), tumor markers do not have sufficient sensitivity or specificity for use in screening. Cancer antigen (CA) 27.29 most frequently is used to follow response to therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Carcinoembryonic antigen is used to detect relapse of colorectal cancer, and CA 19-9 may be helpful in establishing the nature of pancreatic masses. CA 125 is useful for evaluating pelvic masses in postmenopausal women, monitoring response to therapy in women with ovarian cancer, and detecting recurrence of this malignancy. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a marker for hepatocellular carcinoma, sometimes is used to screen highly selected populations and to assess hepatic masses in patients at particular risk for developing hepatic malignancy. Testing for the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) is an integral part of the diagnosis and management of gestational trophoblastic disease. Combined AFP and beta-hCG testing is an essential adjunct in the evaluation and treatment of nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, and in monitoring the response to therapy. AFP and beta-hCG also may be useful in evaluating potential origins of poorly differentiated metastatic cancer. PSA is used to screen for prostate cancer, detect recurrence of the malignancy, and evaluate specific syndromes of adenocarcinoma of unknown primary.
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PMID:Serum tumor markers. 1452 94