Anatomy of the liver and pathology of liver tumors

The curative or palliative resection of liver tumors is of great importance in hepatogastrointestinal oncology. It requires a detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the liver and the differential diagnoses of liver tumors, and is summarized in the present review. Almost half of all tumors occurring in the liver are metastases, most commonly from colo-rectal cancers, followed by hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas. Frozen sections obtained during surgery often necessitate differentiation of malignant tumors from benign lesions such as the von Meyenburg complex, the bile duct adenoma and solitary bile duct cyst. The clinical context regarding patient age, gender, drug history and underlying diseases provide valuable information to finally reach a correct diagnosis. A close interdisciplinary collaboration is indispensable particular when frozen sections are under investigation.