Bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in children affected by hepatocellular carcinoma: A single-center experience

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is very rare in children and is traditionally associated with a poor prognosis because many patients are not amenable to conventional resection, even in the absence of metastatic disease. For patients with locally advanced or metastatic tumors, conventional chemotherapy appears to offer limited survival benefits. Patients and Methods: We report a case series of five consecutive pediatric patients with HCC who were treated with bevacizumab along with conventional platinum-based chemotherapy. Results: Overall, all five patients presented an objective response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Four patients remain alive and free of disease 54 months after diagnosis (range=20-85 months) after treatment with bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy and surgery that consisted of partial liver resection in two patients and liver transplantation in three. Conclusion: In our experience, bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy was an effective and safe option for the treatment of children affected by HCC.