Multiomic analysis uncovers a continuous spectrum of differentiation and Wnt-MDK-driven immune evasion in hepatoblastoma

Despite hepatoblastoma being the most common pediatric liver cancer, there has been a critical knowledge gap in understanding how the tumor microenvironment and immune landscape contribute to disease progression. Our novel findings, revealing a continuous spectrum of tumor differentiation states and Wnt-MDK-driven immune evasion, are significant for pediatric oncology clinicians and researchers, improving our functional understanding of the immune environment of hepatoblastoma. The identification of midkine as a tumor-specific immunomodulator suggests a potential for developing new targeted therapies, though further mechanistic and practical validation would be needed to realize clinical translation of these findings.