Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in childhood is rare but is the second most common malignant liver neoplasm after hepatoblastoma in children. Surgical resectability is the foundation of curative therapy but only one third of newly diagnosed HCCs are resectable, and unresectable HCC remains largely unresponsive to systemic chemotherapy. In all reported series of HCC in children, therapeutic results are poor with overall survival less than 30%. Systemic chemotherapy is only partially effective but if preoperative downstaging can be achieved, it would result in a higher survival rate. There are scarce data regarding local ablative treatments such as transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and therefore survival benefits are still unclear. TACE may be considered as a therapeutic alternative in cases of unresectable tumors after systemic chemotherapy or in unresectable, non-metastatic HCCs. The use of orthotopic liver transplantation in childhood HCC remains controversial. Radioembolization is a mode of treatment that aims to selectively target radiation to all liver tumors using yttrium-90 microspheres while limiting the dose to normal liver parenchyma. It may be considered as another treatment option in childhood HCC with the purpose of preoperative downstaging but further studies are required to determine the treatment benefits and safety of radioembolization treatment.

• Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma;Child;Radioembolization;Transarterial chemoembolization