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Peer-reviewedCC BYFrontiers in surgery

Surgical resection combined with TACE for primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver: a case report and literature review

  • Liying Qian1
  • Kangze Wu1
  • Yukun Ying2
  • Xin Zhu1
  • Zhihong Shen1
  1. 1Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shaoxing People’s Hospital , ,
  2. 2School of Medicine, Shaoxing University , , ,
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Abstract

Background: Primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver (PCCCL) is an uncommon hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) subtype that resembles extrahepatic clear cell tumors, posing diagnostic challenges.

Case presentation: A 74-year-old woman with hepatitis B–related cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class A) presented with acute abdominal pain and vomiting. Imaging revealed a hypervascular hepatic lesion with intralesional fat, while serum AFP was normal and CA125 mildly elevated. Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy was performed. Histology confirmed PCCCL, and immunohistochemistry supported hepatic origin while excluding metastatic renal carcinoma. The patient subsequently received two sessions of postoperative TACE as an individualized treatment and remained free of recurrence or metastasis during surveillance from 2022 to 2025.

Conclusion: PCCCL is rare and difficult to distinguish from conventional HCC or metastatic clear cell carcinoma. Histopathology with immunohistochemistry is essential for diagnosis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment. Although this patient remained recurrence-free after postoperative TACE, the role of TACE cannot be determined based on a single case, and studies with larger sample sizes are still needed.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{qian2026surgical,
  title = {{Surgical resection combined with TACE for primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver: a case report and literature review}},
  author = {Liying Qian and Kangze Wu and Yukun Ying and Xin Zhu and Zhihong Shen},
  journal = {Frontiers in surgery},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fsurg.2026.1949319},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724475},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Surgical resection combined with TACE for primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver: a case report and literature review
AU  - Liying Qian
AU  - Kangze Wu
AU  - Yukun Ying
AU  - Xin Zhu
AU  - Zhihong Shen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
JO  - Frontiers in surgery
DO  - 10.3389/fsurg.2026.1949319
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724475
AB  - Background: Primary clear cell carcinoma of the liver (PCCCL) is an uncommon hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) subtype that resembles extrahepatic clear cell tumors, posing diagnostic challenges.  Case presentation: A 74-year-old woman with hepatitis B–related cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class A) presented with acute abdominal pain and vomiting. Imaging revealed a hypervascular hepatic lesion with intralesional fat, while serum AFP was normal and CA125 mildly elevated. Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy was performed. Histology confirmed PCCCL, and immunohistochemistry supported hepatic origin while excluding metastatic renal carcinoma. The patient subsequently received two sessions of postoperative TACE as an individualized treatment and remained free of recurrence or metastasis during surveillance from 2022 to 2025.  Conclusion: PCCCL is rare and difficult to distinguish from conventional HCC or metastatic clear cell carcinoma. Histopathology with immunohistochemistry is essential for diagnosis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment. Although this patient remained recurrence-free after postoperative TACE, the role of TACE cannot be determined based on a single case, and studies with larger sample sizes are still needed.
SN  - 2296-875X
ER  -