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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth cause of death for cancer, the first in northern Africa and is the eighth tumor for incidence in the world. Risk factors are: liver cirrhosis, HBV, HCV and natural toxins (i.e. aflatoxin). A screening program is feasible and based on serum alpha-fetoprotein dosage and periodic liver ultrasonography. Instrumental diagnosis is based on ultrasonography associated with angiography or spiral TC associated with systemic portography. The best therapy of HCC is based on a multimodal approach: surgery when feasible, associated with or in alternative to intratumoral ethanol injection (PEI), transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These different therapeutical approaches are related to the liver extent of the disease and liver functioning. Poor results obtained with chemotherapy led to research different therapeutical approaches as hormonal substances, immune modulators or genetic modulators. Most patients present with advanced disease, and their survival rate decreases with the increase of liver cirrhosis concomitant with HCC. Better results should be obtained with the use of different therapeutical approaches as angiogenetic inhibitors, today only for experimental use at present.

The metastases of malignant melanoma can appear after many years to primitive diagnosis and can involve many organs. There are reported two cases of metastatic melanoma presenting in a parotid gland and in the small bowel. The rarity of the metastatic melanoma to parotid gland and the difficulty of diagnosing intestinal involvement are discussed together with a review of the literature. The surgical treatment was justified by therapeutic and diagnostic aim, without positive influence on survival.

Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura represent a rare clinicopathological entity: 456 cases only have been reported since 1991. A interesting case of solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura is described here, because it turned up in a female patient followed up for a bilateral breast cancer and so with the exact determination of the period of beginning. The complex morphological picture is illustrated in relation to other cases reported in the literature. Immunohistochemical results are stressed, particularly as regards the coexpression of vimentin and desmin without necrosis and the low number of mitosis. As there are no criteria to determine the possible aggressive or malignant behaviour of the tumor, surgical resection of the lesion is indispensable both to resolve the diagnosis and to carry out the only proposable therapy.