Hepatoblastoma in a girl with biliary atresia: coincidence or co-incidence.

Hepatoblastoma (HB) and biliary atresia (BA) are both rare conditions that occurred in the patient described. This is the second such case in the literature. An explanation for this apparent coincidence could possibly be found in the existance of pluripotent liver stem cells. In humans, small epithelial cells (SEC) behave as pluripotent stem cells. These are cells that can develop as biliary epithelial cells or as liver parenchymal cells, and are thought to be the precursor cell of HB. They are present in a much higher concentration in the livers of patients with BA, which may make them prone to develop HB. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.