Wilm's Tumor Treatment Information for Patients

Treatment Option Overview

How Wilms' tumor is treated

There are treatments for all patients with Wilms' tumor. Three kinds of treatment are used:

• surgery (taking out the cancer in an operation)
  
• chemotherapy (using drugs to kill cancer cells)
  
• radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays or other high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells)

Surgery is a common treatment for Wilms' tumor. Your doctor may take out the cancer using one of the following:

• Partial nephrectomy removes the cancer and part of the kidney around the cancer. This operation is usually used only in special cases, such as when the other kidney is damaged or has already been removed.
  
• Simple nephrectomy removes the whole kidney. The kidney on the other side of the body can take over filtering blood.
  
• Radical nephrectomy removes the whole kidney with the tissues around it. Some lymph nodes in the area may also be removed.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drugs enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy given after an operation when there are no cancer cells that can be seen is called adjuvant therapy.

When very high doses of chemotherapy are used to kill cancer cells, these high doses can destroy the blood-forming tissue in the bones (the bone marrow). If very high doses of chemotherapy are needed to treat the cancer, bone marrow may be taken from the bones before therapy and frozen until it is needed. Following chemotherapy, the bone marrow is given back through a needle in a vein. This is called autologous bone marrow reinfusion.

Radiation therapy uses x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation for Wilms' tumor usually comes from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy). Radiation may be used before or after surgery and/or chemotherapy.

After several years, some patients develop another form of cancer as a result of their treatment with chemotherapy and radiation. Clinical trials are ongoing to determine if lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation can be used.

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