Wilms’ Tumor

Wilms’ Tumor General Information

Wilms’ Tumor is a rare type of cancer of the kidneys that is known to primarily affect children. This medical condition is also widely known as nephroblastoma. Studies show that this clinical disorder is the most common malignant tumor that affects the kidneys in the case of children. This type of clinical condition rarely occurs after the age of 8, as its peak time ranges at 3 years of age.

This medical condition (Wilms’ Tumor) can affect one or both of the child’s kidneys. This disorder has been named after a German surgeon who lived in the 19th century and who stated that the cancerous cells actually develop from the kidney’s immature cells. In the recent decades, the outlook for children who are suffering from this type of kidney cancer has improved a great deal. With the help of the new imaging techniques, physicians are now able to determine the extent of the patient’s cancer and to accordingly plan the needed therapeutic routine.

Certain risk factors have been associated with the development of this medical condition. For example, studies have shown that this type of kidney cancer frequently affects young children who present certain abnormalities at birth, especially Hemihypertrophy (infants who suffer from this type of condition have one side of the body noticeable larger than the other one) and Aniridia (this is a very rare clinical condition that affects the patient’s iris – a membrane of the eye that controls the amount of light that enters the eye and gives it its color; in such cases, the iris partially forms or it may not form at all). Other abnormalities that may be linked to the development of this cancerous condition include Hypospadias, Undescendent testicles, and so on.

Wilms’ Tumor Symptoms

Children who are suffering from this cancerous condition of the kidneys often present a mass in their abdomen (which is generally detected by the child’s mother when she dresses or bathes the infant or by the infant’s pediatrician during a routine clinical examination). The mass (the tumor) is generally firm to the touch and may be felt on both sides of the child’s abdomen.

This medical condition (Wilms' Tumor) can also remain undetected, as the mass can enlarge without causing any symptoms (not even pain). In such cases, physicians refer to this condition as being an asymptomatic disorder. As such, a child who is suffering from Wilms’ Tumor can appear healthy or may present certain distinctive symptoms, including: the presence of an abdominal mass, blood in the urine, fever, reduced appetite, high blood pressure, weight loss, constipation, vomiting, nausea, malaise (general discomfort), and so on. You must always keep in mind that the presence of one or more of these clinical manifestations does not necessarily mean that your child is suffering from this cancerous condition of the kidneys; however, in case you notice that your child presents any unusual symptom you should immediately notify his or her pediatrician and establish an appointment as soon as possible; the pediatrician will be able to determine whether your child is suffering from Wilms’ Tumor or from any other medical condition.

Wilms’ Tumor Treatment

The standard therapeutic approach that is employed in the case of patients who are suffering from Wilms’ Tumor include the administration of chemotherapy and also the undergoing of surgery. Depending on the stage of the patient’s tumor and also on the appearance of the cancerous cells under a special microscope, the health care provider will establish whether the child will have to undergo radiation therapy as well.

The surgical procedure that is applied in the case of children with Wilms’ Tumor is called nephrectomy and involves the direct surgical removal of the affected kidney tissue. There are several types of nephrectomies, including: simple nephrectomy (in which the entire kidney is removed), partial nephrectomy (in which the tumor and part of the kidney tissue that surrounds it is removed), radical nephrectomy (in which the surgeons remove the entire kidney and the surrounding tissue – in some cases, even the lymph nodes located near the kidney are removed).

At surgery, the health care specialist may want to closely examine both of the child’s kidneys and his or her abdominal cavity (in order to search for evidence of the presence of cancer). The surgeon will remove samples of any tissue that seems abnormal in order to examine them by microscope and determine whether they present cancerous cells or not. Depending on the appearance of the cells under the microscope, a specialist will determine whether the cancer is susceptible to chemotherapy or not. Another effective therapeutic approach that is applied in the case of children who suffer from Wilms’ Tumor is chemotherapy; this treatment type employs special medical products in order to kill the dangerous cancer cells. The medication can be administered intravenously or taken in by the patient as a regular pill. This type of therapy against kidney cancer is considered a systemic treatment as it is known to enter the patient’s bloodstream, traveling throughout the individual’s organism in order to destroy cancerous cells from different parts of the body. Because chemotherapy affects cells that rapidly divide, it will also kill healthy cells that are characterized by fast turnover (like bone marrow cells, cells from the patient’s gastro-intestinal tract, and so on). For this reason, chemotherapy (a therapy option for patients who suffer from Wilms’ Tumor) has numerous side effects, among which: loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, hair loss, etc. Some of these side effects lessen during therapy, but most of them only improve after chemotherapy is stopped.

Another type of treatment that may be prescribed to a patient who is suffering from Wilms’ Tumor is radiation therapy; this therapeutic approach employs X-rays or special sources of rays of high energy in order to destroy the cancerous cells. This type of treatment is generally started a few days after the patient has undergone surgery. Potential medicines that could be employed in the therapy of Wilms’ Tumor include: Adriamycin, Cosmegen, Cytoxan, DOXOrubicin, Dactinomycin, Mesna, Mesnex, Toposar, Oncovin, and so on.