Hepatoblastoma: current understanding, recent advances, and controversies

Introduction: Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common primary malignant liver neoplasm in children. Its increasing survival rate is related to the progress in modern imaging, surgical techniques, and new chemotherapy regimens. Clinical approach: One of the past achievements was the development of the pretreatment extension of disease (PRETEXT) system. Gradually, the HB therapeutic approach has become more individualized with better stratification of patients. Controversies: These include the need for preoperative chemotherapy and its optimal duration; intensity of preoperative chemotherapy required for locally advanced cases (PRETEXT 4); optimal surgical treatment for locally advanced tumors: aggressive hepatic resections versus liver transplantation; the role of postoperative chemotherapy in the post-transplant setting; the timing and role of metastasectomy in patients with disseminated disease who undergo partial liver resection; and the prognostic significance of several HB pathology variants. Hepatoblastoma biology: Beta-catenin mutations and the beta-catenin/Wnt pathway play an important role in HB development. There have been at least two molecular signatures in HB published. Unluckily, all of these findings are based on relatively small clinical series and require confirmation. Conclusion: The treatment of HB started from one and the same therapy for all patients and aimed at increased treatment individualization, but the future seems to lie in biology-driven patient-tailored therapies.