Primary neoplasms of the liver are rare in childhood and constitute 0.3–2% of all pediatric tumors. Malignant neoplasms account for 1% of all pediatric malignancies and are the third most common intra-abdominal neoplasm after neuroblastoma and nephroblastoma. The two primary malignant neoplasms of the liver are hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. For both these malignant tumors, complete resection of the tumor is necessary to achieve a cure. Detailed description of hepatic segmental anatomy has enabled surgeons to resect larger tumors in the recent years. This appreciation of the anatomy and the regenerative capability of the liver, which allows up to 85% of the liver to be safely removed in small infants, have greatly increased the scope for cure.
The incidence of benign liver tumors in children is less than their malignant counterpart, and in a large series of pediatric liver tumors, benign tumors accounted for less than 35%. The benign tumors include heman-giomas or vascular malformations, hepatocellular adenomas, focal nodular hyperplasia, mesenchymal hamartomas, and various types of cysts and cystic disease. With widespread use of ultrasonography, fortuitous discoveries of benign tumors are being made in a large number of children, and this raises the question of optimal surgical management for the surgeon.
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Keywords
- Biliary Atresia
- Hepatic Tumor
- Focal Nodular Hyperplasia
- Hepatocellular Adenoma
- Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor
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Further Reading
Abbasoglu L, Gun F et al (2004) Hepatoblastoma in children. Acta Chir Belg 104(3):318–321
Czauderna P, Mackinlay G et al (2002) Hepatocellular carcinoma in children: Results of the fi rst prospective study of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology group. J Clin Oncol 20(12):2798–2804
Fuchs J, Rydzynski J et al (2002) Pretreatment prognostic factors and treatment results in children with hepatoblastoma: A report from the German Cooperative Pediatric Liver Tumor Study HB 94. Cancer 95(1):172–182
La Quaglia MP (2000) Hepatic tumors in childhood. In L Blumgart, Y Fong (eds), Surgery of the Liver and Biliary Tract, 2nd vol. W.B. Saunders, London, pp 1451–1473
Pimpalwar AP, Sharif K et al (2002) Strategy for hepatoblas-toma management: Transplant versus nontransplant surgery. J Pediatr Surg 37(2):240–245
Stiller CA, Pritchard J et al (2006) Liver cancer in European children: Incidence and survival, 1978–1997. Report from the Automated Childhood Cancer Information System project. Eur J Cancer 42(13):2115–2123
Su WT, La Quaglia MP (2006) Liver Tumours. In P Puri, ME Höllwarth (eds) Pediatric Surgery, Springer Surgery Atlas Series. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, pp 459–476
von Schweinitz D (2006) Management of liver tumors in childhood. Semin Pediatr Surg 15(1):17–24
Xuewu J, Jianhong L et al (2006) Combined treatment of hepa-toblastoma with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and surgery. Pediatr Hematol Oncol 23(1):1–9
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Paran, T.S., La Quaglia, M.P. (2009). Hepatic Tumors in Childhood. In: Puri, P., Höllwarth, M. (eds) Pediatric Surgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69560-8_75
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69560-8_75
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