Diagnostic Pitfalls and Challenges in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This one-hour CME/CMLE credit-bearing case-based online module will provide the latest guidance to the laboratory team in providing the most accurate recommendations for testing as members of the multidisciplinary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cancer treatment team.

This interactive module leverages patient cases/scenarios, images and slides, and questions designed to prompt you to make a diagnosis and/or recommend next steps. The activity also reinforces the importance of the multidisciplinary care team in the diagnosis and management of HCC.

This activity addresses the following topics:

• Liver tissue acquisition
• HCC diagnostic challenges

• Potential mimics
• Poorly differentiated HCC
• Common pitfalls
• Clinical and morphological clues
• Diagnostic algorithm

• IHC and ISH staining techniques to resolve common differential diagnoses
• HCC biomarkers

• Arginase-1
• Albumin
• Glypican-3
• ...and more

This activity is designed for laboratory team members who care for patients with HCC.

Upon completion of this course, the learners should be able to:

• Recommend appropriate tissue biopsy practices in accordance with clinical guidelines to ensure early and accurate diagnosis of HCC stages
• Differentiate common mimics of hepatocellular carcinoma
• Use a panel of special stains to resolve common differential diagnoses
• Update protocols to avoid common pitfalls in hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis
• Apply an algorithmic approach to the diagnosis of poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)