Primary liver cancer in Malaysian children.

THERE is a high incidence of primary hepatic cancer in the adult population in many parts of Africa and Asia. It is the most common malignancy among Malay males, the second most common cancer in Indian males and the third most common cancer among Chinese males in . Singapore (Shanmugaratnam, 1973). Despite the high incidence of liver cancer in the adult population in these regions, there is a paucity of reported cases in children (Edmondson and Steiner, 1954). The International Union Against Cancer (U.LC.C.) has drawn attention to the need for more epidemiological information from different countries regarding these tumours. In addition, the outlook for children with primary hepatic cancer seems to be improving with the introduction of multimodal therapy (Sinniah, et al., 1973).