Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Children and Adolescents: Clinical Characteristics and Treatment

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurs rarely in children and adolescents (C&A), and its clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, and treatment were rarely explored. Methods: This retrospective study focused on 65 HCC patients aged ≤20 years from August 1994 to August 2012. Cox regression models and Kaplan–Meier curves were used to investigate prognostic factors and compare overall survival (OS), respectively. Results: We found 61.5% of patients to have multiple tumors, 30.8% to have portal vein tumor thrombus, and 16.9% to have distant metastasis. Diameter of tumors was 10.2 ± 4.1 cm. OS at 5 years was 15.8%. Multivariate analyses showed initial treatment (P < 0.001) to be a predictor for OS. For moderate-stage HCC, the median OS of patients who underwent resection was longer than that of patients who underwent transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or supportive treatment (ST) (P < 0.001). For advanced-stage HCC, the median OS of patients who underwent TACE was longer than that of patients who underwent ST (P = 0.045). Conclusions: HCC in C&A tends to be more advanced than that in adults, and resection remains the mainstay of treatment for those patients. Moreover, compared with ST, TACE may benefit C&A with moderate- and advanced-stage HCC, which needs further study.