LAS VEGAS – For women with larger hepatic adenomas, current guidelines suggest reassessment at 6 months after oral contraceptive withdrawal to determine whether resection is warranted.
However, emerging data show reassessing at that time point may lead to overtreatment, according to Laura M. Kulik, MD, professor of medicine (gastroenterology and hepatology), radiology and surgery (organ transplantation), Northwestern University, Chicago.
“There’s been some controversy that 6 months may be too short,” Dr. Kulik said at the inaugural Perspectives in Digestive Diseases meeting held by Global Academy for Medical Education.
Unlike other benign liver lesions, hepatic adenomas can hemorrhage and transform to hepatocellular carcinoma. Current guidelines from the European Association for the Study of the Liver state that larger lesions (i.e., 5 cm or greater on baseline imaging) are associated with a higher risk of complications. According to one systematic review cited in the document, almost all cases of hemorrhage or spontaneous rupture occur in lesions 5 cm or larger.
Oral contraceptive use has been associated with a 30- to 40-fold increase in hepatic adenoma incidence, according to the guidelines.
All men with hepatic adenomas should undergo resection or curative treatment, the guidelines say, since they have a significantly higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.
By contrast, women with hepatic adenomas larger than 5 cm should discontinue oral contraceptives – which may lead to tumor regression in some cases – and should be reassessed 6 months later with contrast-enhanced MRI; if the lesion is still greater than 5 cm at that time, they should be considered for resection or curative treatment, the guidelines say.
However, authors of a retrospective cohort study have challenged that advice, suggesting that a 6-month follow-up may not always be long enough to see adequate tumor regression (HPB 2017 Apr;19[Suppl 1]:S3).