Hepatoblastoma is an exceptionally rare malignancy in adults with just over 70 non-pediatric cases reported in literature. Recounted is a case of a 49-year-old female who presented with acute right upper quadrant abdominal pain, elevated serum alpha fetoprotein and a large liver mass on imaging. Hepatectomy was performed under clinical suspicion of hepatocellular carcinoma. Immunomorphologic characteristics of the tumor proved consistent with hepatoblastoma of mixed epithelial and mesenchymal type. Hepatocellular carcinoma remains to be the primary differential diagnosis for adult hepatoblastoma, however, distinguishing between these two neoplasms requires close histomorphologic assessment and immunohistochemical profiling as clinical, radiologic and gross pathologic findings typically overlap. Making this distinction is highly crucial in the timely initiation of surgical and chemotherapeutic interventions for this inherently aggressive and rapidly fatal disease.
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Clinical and Pathological Spectrum of Hepatoblastoma with Emphasis on Treatment-Induced Changes: Experience from Tertiary Care Center Divya Achutha Ail, Malini Eapen, Pavithran Keechilat, Sudheendran Surendran, Naveen Viswanath Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
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Hepatoblastoma is the most common pediatric liver malignancy and usually occurs within the first 3 years of life. In recent years, the overall incidence of hepatoblastoma has exhibited the greatest increase among all pediatric malignancies worldwide. The diagnosis of hepatoblastoma may be challenging due to the lack of a current consensus classification system. The International Pediatric Liver Tumors Consensus introduced guidelines and a consensus classification for the diagnosis of hepatoblastoma as either epithelial or mixed epithelial and mesenchymal and in the updated 5th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Digestive System Tumors.
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