There are two main types of liver cancer that affect children – hepatocellular carcinoma which tends to be diagnosed in older children and teenagers, and hepatoblastoma which tends to affect children less than three years old. Around 17 children in the UK are diagnosed with hepatoblastoma every year. Here we explore more about this devastating childhood cancer and how Curestarters are helping start vital new cures.
How does hepatoblastoma develop?
Your liver is your largest internal organ and does a lot of important jobs for your body, including helping to digest food, produce energy, fight infections and remove toxins. Hepatoblastoma is the most common type of liver cancer in children, but fortunately it is still a rare disease. It develops when cells in a child’s liver start to grow uncontrollably.
Is hepatoblastoma curable?
Like other cancers, individual prognosis varies, but luckily most children with hepatoblastoma can be cured. Sadly though, more aggressive, advanced hepatoblastomas are harder to cure. We urgently need more international cancer research to better understand hepatoblastoma and how to stop it, so that no life is cut short.
Who is more likely to develop hepatoblastoma?
We don’t yet fully understand what causes hepatoblastoma but it mostly affects children aged under three. It looks like being born prematurely or having a very low birth weight may be risk factors for hepatoblastoma, but more research is needed to better understand this.
Some genetic conditions, including Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome and Familiar adenomatous polyposis, can also make it more likely that your child will be diagnosed with hepatoblastoma.
How does hepatoblastoma affect liver function?
A lot of children with hepatoblastoma go on to live healthy lives, but in some cases there can be complications. Hepatoblastoma can impact how well your child’s liver functions. If their liver can’t do its job of clearing out toxins, it can impact your child’s health and can make the cancer harder to cure.
How is hepatoblastoma staged?
Doctors first have to work out the stage of the cancer, to know how best to treat it. For hepatoblastoma there are four stages:
• Stage 1: the cancer can be completely removed by surgery.
• Stage 2: the cancer can mostly be removed by surgery.
• Stage 3: some cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes so the cancer can’t all be removed.
• Stage 4: the cancer has spread to other parts of the body
Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of hepatoblastoma:
What are the symptoms of hepatoblastoma?
It can be hard to spot symptoms of hepatoblastoma. Children may have a large, swollen tummy or a lump. Other symptoms can include loss of appetite, weight loss, tiredness, fever, sickness or jaundice. If you are worried at all about symptoms in your child please consult your doctor.
How is hepatoblastoma diagnosed?
The first symptom of hepatoblastoma is normally a swelling in the belly. Diagnosis can then be made using a combination of blood tests and imaging tests including ultrasound, CT scan and MRI. These scans build up a picture of what is happening in your child’s liver and help decide the best treatment option.
How is hepatoblastoma treated?
The earlier hepatoblastoma is detected, the easier it is to treat. The treatment your child receives for hepatoblastoma will depend on the stage of the cancer but it normally involves a combination of:
Surgery: an operation to shrink or sometimes completely remove the cancer.
Chemotherapy: drugs to kill the cancer cells.
Liver transplant: some children may receive a liver transplant if surgery does not remove the whole tumour.
How can we make a difference for children with hepatoblastoma?
Because hepatoblastoma is a rare cancer, we don’t yet know a huge amount about it. Research is vital to help make new discoveries about this disease as the more we understand it, the more children can be cured.
Childhood cancers often need different treatments to adult cancers since they grow differently and young people don’t respond to therapy in the same way as adults. Our Curestarters are helping us to make breakthroughs in childhood cancers so that more children around the world have more precious time with their families.
How is Worldwide Cancer Research helping to cure hepatoblastoma?
As a cancer charity, we support the best ideas from researchers working to make new discoveries about any cancer type. From more common cancers like breast cancer, to much rarer ones including hepatoblastoma, we won’t stop until all cancers have cures.
Right now, thanks to supporters like you, Dr Sancho-Bru (pictured) and his team in Spain are working to better understand how hepatoblastoma develops.
The team are investigating two specific genes that seem to be linked to the activity of hepatoblastoma cells, as well as patient outcomes. They think that these genes are involved in how hepatoblastoma progresses and they hope their research will reveal more about how this cancer grows - and therefore how to stop it.
FAQs about hepatoblastoma
Is hepatoblastoma a type of liver cancer?
Yes, hepatoblastoma is the most common type of childhood liver cancer. It tends to be diagnosed in children aged three and under.
How rare is hepatoblastoma?
Fortunately, hepatoblastoma is rare. Around 17 children every year in the UK are diagnosed with hepatoblastoma. However, this is still 17 children too many - which is why we urgently need to fund more research into this cancer.
Why does rare cancer research need funding?
Rare cancers including hepatoblastoma are often under-funded, which means that we know less about how they behave and how to cure them. 55% of cancer deaths in the UK are from rare and less common cancers so we urgently need more research into all cancers to help reach a day when no life is cut short.
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