Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: Clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis
Zhao Man, Fei Yin
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEHE) is a rare hepatic vascular tumor with unpredictable malignant potential. The etiology, characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of HEHE are not well-understood, and large-scale retrospective studies are required to understand better this disease. AIM: To determine the characteristics of HEHE and identify its optimal treatments and prognostic factors. METHODS: The clinical data of two patients diagnosed with HEHE at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University and 258 previously reported cases retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and PubMed databases between 1996 and 2021 were combined and summarized. All cases were pathologically identified as HEHE. Information such as clinical features, laboratory examination findings, imaging findings, pathological characteristics, treatment, and survival periods was reviewed. Kaplan-Meir curves were used for survival analysis. Prognostic factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: = 0.558). CONCLUSION: The clinical course of HEHE is rare and variable, and patients with intrahepatic metastases and liver dysfunction may have a poorer prognosis than those without. Surgical intervention, whether liver resection or transplantation, might be warranted regardless of extrahepatic metastasis. For patients without the option for surgery, clinicians should consider the use of TACE with antiangiogenic drugs in the treatment of HEHE.