Ms Roberts, a 54-year-old African American woman with cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, presented with a new right upper quadrant abdominal pain.A computed tomographic scan showed a poorly defined mass with indistinct borders located near the portal vein.The likely diagnosis was hepatocellular carcinoma, probably unresectable due to proximity to the portal vein.A gastroenterologist tells her that the mass may represent cancer but that a liver biopsy is needed to establish the diagnosis.She agrees to the biopsy.Her physician reads the biopsy report while Ms Roberts is sitting in a clinic examining room.................
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Anthony L. Back (2002) studied this question.