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1360109 
Journal Article 
Thorotrast and the liver: A reminder 
Selinger, M; Koff, RS 
1975 
Yes 
Gastroenterology
ISSN: 0016-5085
EISSN: 1528-0012 
HEEP/76/10098 
68 
4 Pt 1 
799-803 
1168160 
WOS:A1975AB13600025 
HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. New insights into carcinogenesis might by gained by further study of Thorotrast-induced human neoplasia. The role of immune mechanisms in the induction of these tumors is uncertain. Thorotrast neoplasms may be RES tumors of multicentric origin. Although exposure to ionizing radiation would appear to be the primary inciting mechanism of Thorotrast carcinogenesis in the liver, no association between liver cell carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma and atomic bomb exposure was identified in an autopsy series from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan). The possibility of a foreign body or chemical reaction, resembling As-induced malignancy, was also suggested. Although knowledge of vinyl chloride-induced hepatotoxicity is currently limited, the clinical features of vinyl chloride liver disease resemble those associated with Thorotrast. Similarities in latent period and in the development of fibrosis, cirrhosis and angiosarcoma are striking. Whether vinyl chloride-induced carcinogenesis and hepatic injury share features other than clinical expression with Thorotrast remains to be determined. Regardless of the mechanisms of Thorotrast sequelae, it is apparent that carriers represent a population at risk for the development of liver disease and deserves the attention of hepatologists.