Hepatoblastoma Biology Using Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: Utility of a Unique Technique for the Analysis of Oncological Specimens Biologia hepatoblastoma w świetle izotopowej spektrometrii mas: użyteczność unikatowej metody badawczej w ocenie materiałów onkologicznych

Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver tumor in children. However, it occurs rarely, with an incidence of 0.5-1.5 cases per million children. There is no clear explanation of the relationship between clinicopathologic features, therapy, and outcome in hepatoblastoma cases, so far. One of the most widely accepted prognostic factors in hepatoblastoma is histology of the tumor. The aim of the study was to determine the potential differences in biology of hepatoblastoma histological subtypes at the atomic level using the unique method of isotope ratio mass spectrometry, which is especially valuable in examination of small groups of biological samples.