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1 "Sujin Gang"
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Original Article
Pediatric cancer
Malignant Hepatocellular Neoplasm, Not Otherwise Specified, Displays Poorer Chemoresponsiveness and Postoperative Prognosis Than Hepatoblastoma
In Hye Song, Sujin Gang, Hee Mang Yoon, Pyeong Hwa Kim, Bokyung Ahn, Jihun Kim, Deok Hoon Kim, Jung-Man Namgoong, Kyung-Nam Koh
Cancer Res Treat. 2026;58(2):642-655.   Published online May 12, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2025.117
AbstractAbstract PDFSupplementary MaterialPubReaderePub
Purpose
Malignant hepatocellular neoplasm, not otherwise specified (HCN-NOS) is a provisional diagnostic entity, characterised by intermediate or a combination of hepatoblastoma and pediatric hepatocellular carcinoma (p-HCC) features. We compared the characteristics of HCN-NOS with hepatoblastoma and p-HCC.
Materials and Methods
The records of 148 pediatric patients diagnosed with hepatocellular malignancy after resection were retrieved from the institutional database. Clinical parameters and histopathology slides were reviewed to re-establish each patient’s diagnosis. Molecular analyses were conducted in 37 patients.
Results
Patients were profiled as 21 (14.2%) with HCN-NOS, 109 (73.6%) with hepatoblastoma, and 18 (12.2%) with p-HCC. The median age was 8.6 years in HCN-NOS, 1.2 years in hepatoblastoma, and 7.9 years in p-HCC. Background liver disease was frequently observed in p-HCC (11/18, 61%) but infrequent in HCN-NOS (4/21, 19%) and hepatoblastoma (4/109, 3.7%). HCN-NOS presented with a more advanced PRETEXT stage (p=0.012), metastasis (p < 0.001), and lymphovascular invasion (p < 0.001) than hepatoblastoma and p-HCC. Patients with HCN-NOS received longer cycles of preoperative chemotherapy; however, they reported a lower decrease in serum alpha-fetoprotein and tumor size than hepatoblastoma (p=0.043, p=0.004, and p=0.044, respectively). HCN-NOS was an independent poor prognostic factor for event-free survival (hazard ratio, 4.968; 95% confidence interval, 2.004 to 12.32; p < 0.001).
Conclusion
The possibility of HCN-NOS should be considered in pediatric patients with liver cancer, especially those ≥ 5 years old with no background liver disease. Because HCN-NOS exhibits poor chemoresponsiveness and unfavourable postoperative prognosis, liver transplantation should be strongly considered.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  
  • Conversion Hepatectomy After New FP Therapy for Malignant Hepatocellular Neoplasm, Not Otherwise Specified: A Case Report
    Etsuko Moriyama, Hironori Koga, Takashi Niizeki, Hideki Iwamoto, Shigeo Shimose, Tomotake Shirono, Takahiko Tokushige, Masahito Nakano, Ryoko Kuromatsu, Toru Goto, Masaki Honda, Taizo Hibi, Yoshiki Mikami, Reiichiro Kondo, Jun Akiba, Takumi Kawaguchi
    Hepatology Research.2026; 56(6): 1047.     CrossRef
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