Conditions
Childhood Hepatoblastoma
What is Childhood Hepatoblastoma?
Childhood liver cancer is a rare disease in which cancer cells are found in the tissues of a child’s liver. The liver is the largest organ in the body and it is found behind the ribs on the right side of the abdomen. The liver removes harmful material from the blood and also produces enzymes and bile that aid in the digestive system. The liver receives its blood supply from two vessels – most coming from the hepatic portal vein, and the rest from the hepatic artery. Cancer occurs as the result of abnormal cell growth within the liver.
Hepatoblastoma is the most common type of childhood liver cancer.
Risk Factors
There are no strong indicators of what may cause childhood liver cancers. However, current research suggests the following:
-
Family history. There may be a link between families who carry a gene related to a certain type of colon cancer and children who develop hepatoblastoma
- Genetic syndromes. Children with genetic
syndromes such as Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome, hemihypertrophy
and familial adenomatous plyposis amy have an increased risk
of developing this disease
- Race. Occurs 4-5 times more often in white
children than in African-American children.
- Age. Occurs usually in children under age
5, but mostly occurs in children under age two.
- Prenatal exposure. There is some evidence linking maternal exposure to metals, paints, and oil products to the development of this disease in some children.