Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University -Faculty of Medicine- Department of Pathology

Background : Hepatocellular carcinoma HCC is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Its incidence has risen to become the 5th commonest malignancy worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer related deaths (Gomaa et al., 2008). The burden of HCC in Egypt has been doubled in the past 10 years. This could be attributed to high prevalence of HCV in Egypt (Abdel-Atti, 2015). Evidence suggests the participation of liver progenitor cells LPCs in HCC carcinogenesis. However, their role in hepatocellular carcinogenesis have not been conclusively established (Vestentoft, 2014).Objective: ultrastructural morphometric image analysis of cellular and intercellular parameters of hepatocytes in patients with chronic HCV versus hepatocellular carcinoma HCC to highlight any predictive morphologic features for neoplastic cellular transformation. And, assessment of hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) in cases of chronic HCV and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by ultrastructural examination and immunohistochemical studies, using Ki67 and CK19 immunomarkers, for the determination of any associated changes.Materials and methods: Fifty nine liver samples were subjected to this study. Out of them, 26 patients had chronic HCV infection (12 at early stages of fibrosis (E), 14 at late stages of fibrosis (L)). 20 patients had HCC (T). 13 samples were obtained from the safety margin around the resected HCC (N). Tiny pieces 1mm 3 from each biopsy were fixed in 4% buffered gluteraldhyde and processed for electron microscopic examination. The rest of each biopsy was fixed in 10% buffered formalin and processed for light microscopic examination and immunohistochemical analysis

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