Pediatric Liver Transplant For Hepatoblastoma: A Single-Center Experience.

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to analyze our experience with orthotopic liver transplant for hepatoblastoma patients.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

We performed a single-center retrospective analysis of 6 orthotopic liver transplant cases in children with hepatoblastoma from 2001 to March 2015. We evaluated patient demographic features, pretreatment extent of disease stage, type of transplant, change in serum alpha-fetoprotein levels, complications, and follow-up results.

RESULTS

Orthotopic liver transplant was performed for pretreatment extent of disease stage III with a central location (n = 3) and pretreatment extent of disease stage IV (n = 3). All children underwent living-donor orthotopic liver transplant. Postoperative serum alpha-fetoprotein levels remained below 10 ng/mL during the follow-up period in 3 patients who were free of recurrences or metastases. Five patients were free of tumor recurrences at a median follow-up of 29.9 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The limited number of cases we present without long-term follow-up of orthotopic liver transplant for unresectable hepatoblastoma seemed to show good clinical results.