Scientists have discovered a new type of liver cancer in children that is more resistant to chemotherapy.
- Most children have no symptoms except a large belly or lump.
- Liver cancer accounts for approximately 1% of childhood cancers.
The announcement of the discovery of a “new cancer” which affects children is never good news… but it will make it possible to optimize treatments, hope the researchers.
A third liver cancer
Indeed, until now there were two main types of liver tumors in the youngest: hepatoblastoma, which is generally observed in children under three years of age, and hepatocellular carcinoma, observed in children and adolescents. . The five-year survival rates differ considerably between them, 70% for hepatoblastoma and 30% for hepatocellular carcinoma.
From now on, it will be necessary to reckon with a third, much more aggressive and resistant, details The Sun.
poor
“Until recently, almost all pediatric liver cancers were classified as hepatoblastoma or hepatocellular carcinoma. However, pediatric pathologists have observed that some liver tumors have histological features that do not readily fit models of hepatoblastoma or hepatocellular carcinoma.“, explained Dr. Pavel Sumazin, author of the study.
And these “new” liver tumors are particularly dangerous because they respond less well to chemotherapy, which means that the results of young patients are “mediocre”. Affected children therefore have a poorer prognosis when not treated with more aggressive surgical approaches such as transplantation.
essential organ
Liver cancer is a malignant tumor characterized by the development of one or more cancerous nodules in the liver. The liver is an essential organ for the functioning of the organism and which cannot be replaced. On the other hand, only a quarter of the liver is sufficient to carry out its main functions, and the organ has very significant regeneration capacities which allow it to resume normal function from a reduced fraction of its mass.
Finally, it is possible to consider liver transplants. In the vast majority of cases, these nodules develop in a diseased liver, due to a chronic condition that has caused an overload of liver fat (“steatosis”) or widespread scarring (“cirrhosis”).
These diseases can be alcoholism in adults, steatosis in type 2 diabetes, chronic viral hepatitis or iron overload in hemochromatosis. Liver cancer remains “silent” for a long time, that is to say without causing clinical signs, which makes its early diagnosis difficult. As a result, people in whom this cancer is eventually discovered often suffer from advanced forms that are more difficult to treat.
