Concept and Etiology:
Wilms’ tumor also known as nephroblastoma, is a type of kidney cancer that affects children.
Usually occurs first five years of life being the most common kidney cancer of childhood. The tumor
is mostly nonhereditary and mostly the result of a mutation in the kidney at birth. The deviance
from health is that in the kidney, the cells mutate causing tumors on the kidney and illness on the
urinary system (Rosenblum et al., 2019).
Classification: The stages of Wilms tumor are like other cancer stages. The stages go from one to
five. Cancer has an 85-100 histology survival rate. At a Focal Anaplastic (within the renal tumor and
not the surrounding cells) is between 70% to 100% depending on the stage, the higher the stage the
decrease in survival. c At Diffuse Anaplastic (in which the tumors are outside the renal tumor and
surrounding cells) the survival rate is 30 % to 85% again based on the stage of cancer (American
Cancer Society, 2021b).
Clinical Manifestations (Symptoms and Signs):
Mass on Abdomen
Stomach pain
Blood in urine
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Diagnostic Tests:
Ultrasound
Cat Scan
Blood work (that may show Erythrocytosis (a condition where there are too many red cells in the
blood) (Rosenblum et al., 2019).
References
American Cancer Society. (2021a). Risk Factors for Wilms Tumors. Www.cancer.org.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/wilms-tumor/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html
American Cancer Society. (2021b). Survival Rates for Wilms Tumors. Www.cancer.org.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/wilms-tumor/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html
Rosenblum, L., Abouzied, M., & Knight, J. (2019). Wilms’ Tumor. Salem Press Encyclopaedia of
Health.
Rosenblum, L. M., Abouzied, M., MD, & Knight, J. A., PhD. (2019). Wilms’ tumor. Salem Press
Encyclopaedia of Health.
