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Biology of Metastatic Liver Tumors

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Molecular Pathology of Liver Diseases

Part of the book series: Molecular Pathology Library ((MPLB,volume 5))

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Abstract

The liver is the organ most frequently involved in metastases, to the point that cancer found in this organ is more likely to be a metastatic nodule than a hepatic neoplasia. Almost all cancers metastasize with some frequency to the liver, with this dissemination often being a harbinger of impending mortality. This includes not only carcinomas, with colorectal, breast, and lung cancers frequently disseminating to the liver, but also mesenchymally-derived tumors, with melanomas being prominent among liver metastases. This wide variety of involved tumors begs the question of the special attributes of this organ that cause it to be hospitable “soil” for so many different types of tumor “seeds” [1]. Speculation as to why the liver serves as such, in the absence of tested hypotheses in the literature, will be the topic of this chapter.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Eric Lagasse (University of Pittsburgh) and other members of Wells (University of Pittsburgh) and Griffith (MIT) laboratory for discussions and feedback. Studies surrounding this topic have been supported by a VA Merit Award and DoD Predoctoral Fellowships from the CDMRP on Breast Cancer. The human specimen shown in Fig. 58.2 was obtained under Exemption 4e (de-identified excess pathological specimen) as determined by the University of Pittsburgh IRB, from the Cooperative Human Tissue Network. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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  1. Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Alan Wells

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  1. Alan Wells
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  2. Yvonne Chao
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  3. Qian Wu
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Correspondence to Alan Wells .

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  1. School of Medicine, Dept. Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, 200 Lothrop Street, S421-BST, Pittsburgh, 15261, Pennsylvania, USA

    Satdarshan P. S. Monga

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Wells, A., Chao, Y., Wu, Q. (2011). Biology of Metastatic Liver Tumors. In: Monga, S. (eds) Molecular Pathology of Liver Diseases. Molecular Pathology Library, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7107-4_58

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7107-4_58

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