How is Wilms’ tumor treated?
Treatment will include the surgery mentioned above, chemotherapy, and possibly radiation therapy. The treatment plan will be explained to you in detail. Most of your child’s treatment will be done on an outpatient basis in the hematology/oncology clinic. The purpose of radiation therapy is to destroy tumor cells that may have escaped locally from the tumor. The purpose of chemotherapy is to destroy any metastatic tumor cells in the bloodstream. Throughout the course of therapy and after treatment is completed, various follow-up studies such as blood tests, x-rays and CT scans will be done to closely monitor your child. Due to past research on Wilms’ tumor, excellent progress has been made in treating it successfully. Current research is focusing on refining treatment. It may be possible to minimize treatment for children with a good prognosis. Children with metastatic disease or unfavorable histology may benefit from more intense treatment.
