Treatment of Children with Liver Cancer Using Chemotherapy, Resection and Transplant

Researchers at the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (CCCR) led by Edward F. Attiyeh, MD, are evaluating children with pediatric hepatic cancer for chemotherapeutic and surgical response including the use of potential new chemotherapeutic agents.

Pediatric liver cancer (hepatoblastoma) is extremely rare and chemotherapeutic agents presently in use are not targeted specifically to pediatric liver cancer. Other treatment options include surgery and eventually liver transplantation.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has a comparatively large population of children with liver cancer, allowing researchers to conduct observational studies. These studies are yielding important contributions to the understanding of the disease, its risk stratification and its management.

Work currently underway at the CCCR may allow for the discovery and application of a novel therapeutic for liver cancer.