Specific treatment for hepatoblastoma will be determined by your child's physician based on:

• your child's age, overall health, and medical history
• extent of the disease
• your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, and therapies
• expectations for the course of the disease
• your opinion or preference

There are a number of treatments for liver tumors. Hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma are treated the same way.

Surgery
An operation is performed to surgically remove the tumor and part of the liver where the cancer cells are found. If the cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body (like the tissues that surround the liver, or the lungs or brain), surgery may be used to remove the tumors from these areas.

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be used before surgery to shrink the tumor so that it can be surgically removed, or it can be used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.
 

Chemoembolization
Sometimes, when systemic chemotherapy doesn’t work, chemoembolization is used as a treatment. This is a treatment where chemotherapy drugs are injected into the main artery going into the liver along with “embolizing” substances. These substances block or slow the flow of blood into the tumor. This prevents nutrients from feeding the tumor, and gives the drugs more time to kill the cancer cells.

Liver transplantation
If the tumor has spread throughout the liver, or surgery to remove it cannot be performed, the liver may be replaced entirely with a portion of healthy liver from a donor or from a cavaderic source.

Surgical resection (removal) of the tumor is the most important component of therapy for the success of liver tumor treatment. Liver transplant is used when resection of the tumor is not feasible without compromising the integrity of the liver.

Different liver sources can be used:
Cadaveric donor
Living related donor

Patients who have had a liver transplant will need to take medications to suppress the immune system for the rest of their lives.