A case of primary liver cell cancer complicating lupoid hepatitis.

We report a male patient with lupoid hepatitis who developed primary liver cell cancer 8 years after the onset of lupoid hepatitis. Primary liver cell cancer is thought to be a rare complication of lupoid hepatitis. To our knowledge, this complication has been previously reported in only 6 patients. The etiology of chronic active hepatitis is not known, but is strongly suspected to be associated with an autoimmune mechanism. There is evidence of an increased incidence of malignancy in other forms of autoimmune disease, and this may represent a further contributing factor to the development of primary liver cell cancer in cases of chronic active hepatitis.