Clinical and surgical experience with Wilms' tumor. Long-term results of a single institution

Although the NWTSG and SIOP studies have included the largest number of patients, several individual institutions have made likewise important contributions to the optimization of Wilms' tumor therapy. The purpose of this study is to present our personal experience obtained in the last 42 years by treating Wilms' tumor in childhood.

Throughout the period 1965-2006, 65 children with histological confirmation of Wilms' tumour were treated in the Department of Urology, University of Erlangen Medical Centre. The records of all patients presenting to our institution with Wilms' tumour were examined.

The results obtained by this study group indicate that prognosis according to age demonstrated no significance, but prognosis according to tumor size, lymph node involvement and distant metastasis was significant. After a 10-year follow-up, our data revealed an 89.4% survival rate. Furthermore, the statistical evaluation performed in order to evaluate the significance of surgical complications following neoadjuvant therapy in comparison to non adjuvant therapy, indicates that there is a significant increase in complications in patients who are not treated with neoadjuvant therapy.

Although clinicians in the U.S.A. and Europe have different philosophies on preoperative chemotherapy, most patients with Wilms' tumor survive long term, regardless of the sequence of therapeutic interventions. In the absence of a clear choice between up-front nephrectomy and preoperative chemotherapy, it is reasonable to base the timing of resection on factors such as tumor size, the patient's clinical condition, and the experience of the surgeon.