Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology

Patient and Family Education

Childhood Liver Cancer

What Is Childhood Liver Cancer? | Diagnosis | Stages and Treatments | About Cinical Trials | Greenebaum Cancer Center

Diagnosis

To find out whether a child has liver cancer, a doctor may order special x-rays, such as a CT scan or a liver scan. If the x-ray shows a lump on the liver, the child's doctor may remove a small amount of tissue from the liver using a needle inserted into the abdomen. This is called a needle biopsy. The child's doctor will have the tissue looked at under the microscope to see if there are any cancer cells.

A child's chances of recovery (prognosis) and choice of treatment for liver cancer depend on the stage of the cancer (whether it is just in the liver or has spread to other places), how the cancer cells look under a microscope (the histology), and the child's general state of health.

This page was last updated on: September 23, 2009.

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