![\"Wilms'](\"https:\/\/cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com\/content\/images\/articles\/188\/188130\/child-receives-ultrasound.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat Is Wilms Tumor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Wilms tumor (also called a nephroblastoma) is the most common\u00a0kidney cancer\u00a0in children. Most children with it have a tumor on one\u00a0kidney, but about 5% get a tumor on both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reasons aren\u2019t clear, but it most often affects kids who are 3 to 4 years old. It\u2019s much less common after age 5. Doctors are getting better at spotting and treating this type of\u00a0cancer, so many children who have it will make a full recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Some children who have a Wilms tumor won\u2019t notice symptoms. Others may have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Belly\u00a0pain<\/li>
- Swelling in their belly<\/li>
- A growth that you can see or feel in their belly<\/li>
- Fever\u00a0<\/li>
- Nausea<\/li>
- Lack of appetite<\/li>
- High blood pressure<\/li>
- Blood\u00a0in their pee<\/li>
- Constipation<\/li>
- Shortness of breath<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Many Wilms tumors get very big before anyone notices them. They\u2019re sometimes the only sign of the disease. The average size is 1 pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Causes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
All\u00a0cancers\u00a0happen when cells in your body start to grow out of control. If your child has a Wilms tumor, their\u00a0kidney\u00a0cells didn\u2019t grow like they should have. Instead, they turned into\u00a0cancer\u00a0cells. Most of the time, this is because of a random change in a gene. Rarely, it\u2019s because of gene changes handed down from a parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Risk Factors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Things that might make a child more likely to have a Wilms tumor include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Age.<\/strong>\u00a0Most children who get this type of cancer are between 3 and 5 years old.<\/li>
- Gender.<\/strong>\u00a0Girls are more likely to have it than boys.<\/li>
- Race.<\/strong>\u00a0Black children are slightly more likely to get a Wilms tumor than children of other races.<\/li>
- Family history.<\/strong>\u00a0If someone in your family has had a Wilms tumor, the odds are higher that your child will get it, too.<\/li>
- Birth defects.<\/strong>\u00a0These can include:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Testicles that haven\u2019t dropped (cryptorchidism)<\/li>
- The opening of the\u00a0penis\u00a0is on the underside instead of on the tip (hypospadias)<\/li>
- A total or partial lack of the colored area of the eye (aniridia)<\/li>
- An oversized arm or leg (hemihyphertrophy)<\/li>
- Another health condition.<\/strong>\u00a0A Wilms tumor sometimes happens in children who have other rare conditions:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- WAGR syndrome\u00a0causes problems in the urinary tract.<\/li>
- Boys with Denys-Drash syndrome\u00a0have testicles but also have female traits.<\/li>
- Microcephaly\u00a0is when a baby is born with an unusually small head.<\/li>
- Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome causes internal organs that are larger than usual.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Types of Wilms Tumors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are two kinds of Wilms tumors, divided by how the cells look under a microscope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Favorable histology.<\/strong> More than 9 out of 10 Wilms tumors fall into this group. It means there isn\u2019t a lot of difference among the cancer cells. Children with this type have a good chance of being cured.<\/li>
- Unfavorable or anaplastic histology.<\/strong> This type has a variety of deformed cancer cells. It can be much harder to cure.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Diagnosis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your child\u2019s medical appointment will probably include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- A physical exam and medical history. Your doctor will ask about the symptoms and whether cancer or urinary tract problems run in your family.<\/li>
- A blood test to check how well your child’s kidneys and liver are working, their red and white blood cells, and their blood clotting.<\/li>
- A urine test to look for blood<\/li>
- Imaging tests like an ultrasound, MRI, or CT scan of your child\u2019s\u00a0belly<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If the doctor finds a tumor in your child\u2019s kidney, they may:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Take a small sample to look at under a microscope (biopsy)<\/li>
- Order more imaging tests to find out whether the disease has spread<\/li>
- Do a bone scan to look for diseased bone<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Staging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your doctor will use test results to figure out how far a tumor has spread. This is called staging. The stages of a Wilms tumor are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Stage I.<\/strong> It\u2019s in only one kidney. Surgery can remove it all.<\/li>
- Stage II.<\/strong> Cancer has moved into the area around the kidney, but surgery can remove it all.<\/li>
- Stage III.<\/strong> Cancer hasn\u2019t spread outside the child\u2019s abdomen. Surgery can\u2019t remove it all.<\/li>
- Stage IV. <\/strong>Cancer has spread to parts of the body that are farther away, like the lungs, bones, or brain, or to lymph nodes outside the belly.<\/li>
- Stage V.<\/strong> There are tumors in both kidneys.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Treatment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How a Wilms tumor is treated depends on how much the cancer has spread. It can include surgery,\u00a0chemotherapy, and\u00a0radiation therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surgery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your doctor operates, they may do one of these procedures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Partial nephrectomy.<\/strong> This removes the tumor and some healthy tissue around it.<\/li>
- Radical nephrectomy.<\/strong> This removes the affected kidney, the ureter (the tube that carries pee away from the kidney), the adrenal gland on top of the kidney, and nearby tissue.<\/li>
- Removal of both kidneys.<\/strong> In some cases, the doctor will need to take out both kidneys. Your child would then need to have dialysis, using a machine to filter waste out of their blood. Once they\u2019re healthy enough, they might have a kidney transplant.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Chemotherapy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Certain medications can fight or kill cancer cells inside your child\u2019s body. Most children who have Wilms tumors will get chemo at some point during treatment. These drugs can also affect healthy cells, leading to side effects including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Hair loss<\/li>
- Fatigue<\/li>
- Mouth sores<\/li>
- Loss of appetite<\/li>
- Nausea and vomiting<\/li>
- Diarrhea or constipation<\/li>
- Bruising or bleeding easier than usual<\/li>
- Higher chances of infection<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Your medical team will often be able to manage side effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Radiation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong radiation can also kill cancer cells. A machine focuses it onto the cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doctors tend to use radiation for tumors that are stage III and above. But it can also have short-term and long-term side effects, including tissue damage, so they\u2019ll use as little as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilms Tumor Outlook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The outlook for most kids with a Wilms tumor is good. Up to 90% of children who have a tumor with favorable histology can be cured. If the tumor has unfavorable histology, the cure rate is lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once cancer treatment ends, your child will have regular doctor visits to make sure they stay healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there\u2019s something you don\u2019t understand, make sure to ask your doctor. This will help you know how to best to support your child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What Is Wilms Tumor? A Wilms tumor (also called a nephroblastoma) is the most common\u00a0kidney cancer\u00a0in children. Most children with it have a tumor on one\u00a0kidney, but about 5% get a tumor on both. The reasons aren\u2019t clear, but it most often affects kids who are 3 to 4 years old. It\u2019s much less common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[794],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudassirbackup.infinitycodestudio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Radical nephrectomy.<\/strong> This removes the affected kidney, the ureter (the tube that carries pee away from the kidney), the adrenal gland on top of the kidney, and nearby tissue.<\/li>
- Stage II.<\/strong> Cancer has moved into the area around the kidney, but surgery can remove it all.<\/li>
- Stage I.<\/strong> It\u2019s in only one kidney. Surgery can remove it all.<\/li>
- Unfavorable or anaplastic histology.<\/strong> This type has a variety of deformed cancer cells. It can be much harder to cure.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Favorable histology.<\/strong> More than 9 out of 10 Wilms tumors fall into this group. It means there isn\u2019t a lot of difference among the cancer cells. Children with this type have a good chance of being cured.<\/li>
- Gender.<\/strong>\u00a0Girls are more likely to have it than boys.<\/li>
- Age.<\/strong>\u00a0Most children who get this type of cancer are between 3 and 5 years old.<\/li>