Human Model for Studying the Bare Area of the Liver with Special Reference to the Metastatic Potential of Lung Cancer Metastases

The medical masters of yester years noted the great importance of the actions of Nature in their writings. For instance, Julius Cohnheim was emphatic that autopsies “are all in a manner experiments instituted by nature, which we need only rightly interpret to get a clear idea of the causes, laws of growth, and significance of the tumour.†Indeed, as Nature has it, there is a “bare†area of the liver. Moreover, this area is adjacent to the right adrenal gland. Furthermore, as Bourne depicted, the position of the adrenal gland is probably not fortuitous but related to some evolutionary factor. Therefore, in line with my other practical papers, it is hypothesized that, in cases of right lung cancer, a block containing hepatic and adrenal deposits should be obtained. Then, special staining of the individual lymphatic and blood vessels should be carried out. In all probability, this process will reveal the routes of spread, especially with reference to the interconnections of the individual metastases present in both the liver and the adrenal gland. In other words, the metastatic patterns will confirm or confute the concept of the potentiality of hepatic metastasis in terms of being able to progress further to the adrenal gland.