Childhood liver tumors in Argentina: Incidence trend and survival by treatment center. A report from the national pediatric cancer registry, ROHA network 2000-2015.

Abstract

Information on the epidemiology of pediatric liver tumors in Latin America is limited. To describe the incidence of liver tumors in a pediatric registry in Argentina according to geographic region, national trends over 16years, and survival related to stage, age, sex, and care center. Newly diagnosed liver tumors cases are registered in the Argentine Pediatric Oncology Hospital Registry (ROHA) with an estimated coverage of 91% of national cases. Age-standardized incidence rate per millon (ASR) was calculated based on the National Vital Statistics Reports. Five-year overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test was used to compare subgroup survival. Two hundred seven cases of hepatoblastoma (HB) and 73 of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were identified. ASR of liver tumors was 1.8/million (95% confidence Interval [CI], 1.6-2.0) per year. ASR was 1.4 (1.2-1.6) for HB and 0.4 (0.3-0.5) for HCC. For HB, the highest incidence was found in the northwest region including the Altiplano. OS was 60.4% (53.4-66.8) for HB and 36.1% (25.2-47.2) for HCC. Five-year survival rate of children with metastatic HB treated at liver transplant hospitals (LTH) was 54.2% (30.3-73.0) compared to 13.3% (2.2-34.6) for those seen at other hospitals (OH) (P=.02), while for HCC this rate was 46.3% (30.7-60.6) at LTH compared to 17.5% (3.1-41.9) at OH (P=.01). The incidence rate of pediatric liver tumors was stable over the 16-year study period. Patients may benefit if at treatment initiation they are evaluated jointly with LTH specialists to define treatment strategies.