A new drug called WNTinib can delay the growth of tumors and improve survival in hepatoblastoma, a type of liver cancer that occurs in young children. This effect was seen in cancer cells taken from patients and implanted into mice. The researchers are now working on strategies to identify children who may benefit from the treatment, according to Ms Ugne Balaseviciute, a pre-doctoral researcher in the Translational Research in the Hepatic Oncology Group led by Professor Josep M, Llovet at Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) Barcelona, Spain, in a presentation made at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Barcelona, Spain.
Hepatoblastoma is a rare disease but is the most frequent liver cancer seen in children under the age of three. There are 1.8 cases per million children a year, but the incidence is increasing.
There are limited treatment options available, mainly surgery and chemotherapy. The standard chemotherapy, for instance, cisplatin and doxorubicin, can cause severe and life-long side effects such as hearing loss and heart problems. Ms Balaseviciute said: "The side effects of chemotherapy can have an especially large impact on children who are treated at an early age.
This highlights the urgent need for new and more effective drugs that are better tolerated by paediatric patients." Ms Balaseviciute worked for a year at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA, where researcher.