Hepatoblastoma. Clinical experience at a single institution using the Siopel staging system.

BACKGROUND Staging in Hepatoblastoma has recently become controversial. In developing countries diagnosis occurs mostly in advanced stages under these circumstances, we propose another option that can be considered of prognostic value. METHOD A retrospective analysis of cases diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma (HB), treated in a single Institution, in nine years was conducted. Chemotherapeutic regimens were analyzed, as well as the number of courses administered and response to treatment. RESULTS Thirty-two patients were studied. Patients had symptoms from 1 to 25 weeks before diagnosis. SIOP stratification was used, finding 12 cases in PRETEXT II, 6 cases in PRETEXT III, and 14 cases in PRETEXT IV. No single case was identified in PRETEXT I. CONCLUSIONS When comparing survival using the PRETEXT system, SIOP and our study showed marked differences. These results may not be comparable due to differences in tumor volume among the same PRETEXT stratification. We believe that tumor volume is related to prognosis.