Hepatoblastoma Treatment

Treatment of hepatoblastoma

Surgery is used to remove all of the hepatoblastoma tumor. It is the most important part of treatment. If the entire liver is affected, your child may need a liver transplant to remove all of the tumor.

Chemotherapy uses powerful medicines to kill cancer cells or stop them from spreading.  Some patients are able to have surgery upfront. But most have chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove. Some patients will get chemotherapy after surgery to keep the cancer from coming back.

Hepatoblastoma clinical trials

Hepatoblastoma care at St. Jude

St. Jude provides the highest quality of care for patients with pediatric liver cancer:

• St. Jude offers a dedicated team of specialists to meet the needs of children with hepatoblastoma, including:
  
• • Surgeons, doctors, and nurses who treat this cancer
  • Doctors who specialize in radiation therapy and pathology (making a diagnosis by looking at tumor tissue under the microscope)
  • Experts in diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine
  • Genetic counselors
  • Clinical dietitians
  • Child life specialists
  • Psychologists
  • Researchers and scientists
• Complete, quality surgery is an important part of treating hepatoblastoma. The expert skills and experience of St. Jude surgeons can help improve patients’ chances for the best outcomes.
• St. Jude has access to new “experimental” medicines that can be used if the cancer comes back or does not respond to treatment.
• St. Jude is committed to finding cures and limiting side effects. Children are not just small people. Their bodies and systems are unique, along with the disorders that affect them. For the best care, they need a specialized team. That is what you get at St. Jude.
• St. Jude practices patient family-centered care. Patient family-centered care is health care that focuses on the family as a child’s primary source of strength, support and well-being. At the heart of patient family-centered care is the belief that the health care team and the family are partners, working together to best meet the needs of the child. Excellence in health care happens when we work together and honor the expertise each of us brings to every health care encounter.

More reasons to choose St. Jude for care include:

• We are consistently ranked among the best childhood cancer centers in the nation by US News & World Report. 
• At St. Jude, we have created an environment where children can be children and families can be together. 
• We lead more clinical trials for childhood cancer than any other hospital in the U.S.  
• St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center just for children. A Comprehensive Cancer Center meets rigorous standards for research that develops new and better approaches to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. 
• The nurse-to-patient ratio at St. Jude is unmatched. It is about 1:3 in hematology and oncology and 1:1 in the Intensive Care Unit. 
• Patients may be able to get expert, compassionate care and treatment closer to their homes through the St. Jude Affiliate Program.