Mallory body clustering in adenomatous hyperplasia in human cirrhotic livers: report of four cases

We report four cases of liver cirrhosis in which seven nodules of adenomatous hyperplasia (AH) were present. Each nodule contained one to several foci of hepatocytes with Mallory bodies (MBs). All of these foci were well-circumscribed lesions located within the nodules of AH. The cells containing MBs showed variable degrees of atypia. At least two of the foci were considered to represent a recent proliferation of the cells containing MBs, possibly premalignant foci, because they showed resistance to the accumulation of stainable iron in siderotic background. From these observations, it was suggested that the MB-containing hepatocellular clusters in AH might have occurred as the result of proliferation in small foci and that at least some of them may be related to hepatocarcinogenesis in humans.