Outcome of solid renal tumours in children at the University Hospital of the West Indies
Venugopal, S.; Shah, D.J.; Duncan, N.D.; Carpenter, R.
West Indian Medical Journal 43(4): 134-137
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0043-3144 PMID: 7900377 Document Number: 426242
Of the twenty-nine children with solid renal tumours treated at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) between January, 1972 and December, 1991, there were twenty-eight cases of nephroblastoma and one of mesoblastic nephroma. Peak incidence was between the ages of two and four years. Twenty-five children had radical nephrectomy while one had bilateral partial nephrectomy. In thirteen cases, pre-operative chemotherapy +/- radiotherapy was used. Post-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy were used in 24 and 13 cases, respectively. Stage of the tumour was the most decisive factor influencing the outcome. Whereas there was a 100% cure rate in Stages I and II, Stage III had only a 55.5% survival rate and none of the Stage IV survived. Bilateral (Stage V) tumours are curable if individual tumours are localised, as in one of the two cases. The benign mesoblastic nephroma, in a one-month-old infant, was cured by nephrectomy alone. While the present therapy of radical nephrectomy along with combination chemotherapy is satisfactory for early stages, more aggressive adjuvant therapy is needed for improving the results in Stages III and IV.