Hepatoblastoma in children of extremely low birth weight: a report from a single perinatal center.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The incidence of hepatoblastoma (HB) in children of low birth weight is increasing. In the authors' institute, 5 infants of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) were found to have HB. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of these infants to elucidate the pathogenesis of HB arising in ELBW infants.

METHODS: Birth weight (BW) ranged from 554 to 750 g (mean, 654 g) and gestational age from 23 to 29 weeks (mean, 25.8 weeks). Medical records of the 5 patients were reviewed, and perinatal treatments were compared with those of ELBW infants without HB.

RESULTS: One patient with intraabdominal hemorrhage had emergency operation, which was followed by early postoperative death. The parents of one child refused treatment because of associated severe anomalies. He died of the growing tumor 4 months after diagnosis. The remaining 3 patients had radical operation performed after intraarterial chemoembolization and systemic chemotherapy. One died of hepatic failure 7 months after operation. Two are alive 5 and 9 months after operation. The incidence of HB among ELBW infants was estimated to be about 0.5% in our institute. The mean durations of mechanical ventilation, oxygen inhalation, and hospitalization during the neonatal periods in cases of HB were significantly longer than those in BW matched control infants (P <.01).

CONCLUSIONS: ELBW children have a high risk for HB. In follow-up of ELBW infants, serum alpha-fetoprotein or abdominal ultrasonography may be useful to detect early HB. The children with HB received perinatal treatments for a significantly longer time, which suggests that perinatal intensive and long-term medical treatments may be involved in the tumorigenesis in the highly sensitive immature liver.