Declining mortality and improving survival from Wilms' tumor

Mortality from kidney cancer in the United States declined dramatically over the period 1940-1969. This trend was nearly proportional to the increases in survival for 644 U.S. children reported to the End Results Group, National Cancer Institute. The improvements in survival occurred for all stages of disease and appeared to result from therapeutic advances rather than earlier detection. Total incidence trends showed no consistent change, but a shift toward female preponderance resembled that seen in the mortality statistics and suggests sex differences in etiology.