National Cancer Institute National Cancer Institute
U.S. National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute
NCI Home Cancer Topics Clinical Trials Cancer Statistics Research & Funding News About NCI
Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors Treatment (PDQ®)
Patient VersionHealth Professional VersionEn españolLast Modified: 06/12/2008



Purpose of This PDQ summary






General Information






Cellular Classification






Stage Information






Treatment Option Overview






Standard Treatment Options for Wilms Tumor







Treatment Options Under Clinical Evaluation for Wilms Tumor






Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney






Rhabdoid Tumor of the Kidney






Neuroepithelial Tumor of the Kidney






Mesoblastic Nephroma






Renal Cell Carcinoma






Recurrent Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors






Get More Information From NCI






Changes to This Summary (07/08/2008)






More Information



Page Options
Print This Page  Print This Page
Print This Document  Print Entire Document
View Entire Document  View Entire Document
E-Mail This Document  E-Mail This Document
Quick Links
Director's Corner

Dictionary of Cancer Terms

NCI Drug Dictionary

Funding Opportunities

NCI Publications

Advisory Boards and Groups

Science Serving People

Español
NCI Highlights
New Study of Targeted Therapies for Breast Cancer

The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research FY 2009

President's Cancer Panel Annual Report: 2006-2007

Cancer Trends Progress Report: 2007 Update

Past Highlights
You CAN Quit Smoking Now!
Treatment Options Under Clinical Evaluation for Wilms Tumor

Stage I
Stage II
Stage III
Stage IV



Stage I

The following treatment options are currently under investigation in Children's Oncology Group (COG) clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Favorable Histology

  • AREN0532: In this study (COG-AREN0532), all tumors will be stratified based on central pathology review and molecular analysis (loss of heterozygosity [LOH] at chromosomes 1p and 16q). Patients with LOH at 1p and 16q will be upstaged to receive treatment with DD-4A (dactinomycin, doxorubicin, and vincristine) for 24 weeks. Patients who are younger than 2 years and have Wilms tumors that weigh less than 550 g and who have a negative microscopic evaluation of lymph nodes are eligible for observation only. Other stage I patients will be treated with the standard therapy regimen EE-4A (dactinomycin and vincristine) for 18 weeks postnephrectomy.

Anaplastic (Focal or Diffuse) Histology

  • AREN0321: In this study (COG-AREN0321), patients with stage I will be treated with standard DD-4A (vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin) and radiation therapy.
Stage II

The following treatment options are currently under investigation in COG clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Favorable Histology

  • COG-AREN0532: In this study, all tumors will be stratified based on central pathology review and molecular analysis (loss of heterozygosity [LOH] at chromosomes 1p and 16q). Patients with LOH at 1p and 16q will be upstaged to receive treatment with DD-4A (dactinomycin, doxorubicin, and vincristine) for 24 weeks. Stage II patients without LOH will be treated with standard therapy EE-4A (dactinomycin and vincristine) for 18 weeks postnephrectomy.

Focal Anaplastic

  • Patients with stage II will be treated with standard DD-4A (vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin) for 24 weeks and radiation therapy.

Diffuse Anaplastic

  • COG-AREN0321: In this study, patients will be treated with the UH-1 regimen (cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide) for 30 weeks and radiation therapy.
Stage III

The following treatment options are currently under investigation in COG clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Favorable Histology

  • COG-AREN0532: Patients in this study will be treated with standard therapy of DD-4A (vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin) for 24 weeks and radiation therapy. Patients who have loss of heterozygosity at chromosomes 1p and 16q will be moved to AREN0533 with regimen M (consisting of vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin alternating with cyclophosphamide and etoposide) for a total of 24 weeks and radiation therapy.

Focal Anaplastic

  • COG-AREN0321: In this trial, patients with stage III will be treated with standard DD-4A (vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin) for 24 weeks and radiation therapy.

Diffuse Anaplastic

  • COG-AREN0321: In this trial, patients will be treated with the UH-1 regimen (cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide) for 30 weeks and radiation therapy.
Stage IV

The following treatment options are currently under investigation in COG clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Favorable Histology

  • COG-AREN0533: In this trial, patients with pulmonary metastases only (detected by chest computerized tomography scans) will start treatment with standard chemotherapy DD-4A (vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin) and undergo abdominal irradiation if local stage III. Pulmonary metastases will be re-evaluated at 6 weeks with chest computerized tomography scan. Patients with complete resolution of pulmonary metastases will be considered rapid complete responders and will continue therapy with DD-4A without any pulmonary radiation therapy. Patients who do not have a complete response (slow incomplete responders) will be switched to Regimen M (consisting of vincristine, dactinomycin, and doxorubicin alternating with cyclophosphamide and etoposide for a total of 24 weeks) and undergo radiation therapy to their lungs. It is recommended that biopsies on residual pulmonary lesions be performed before radiation therapy is delivered.

    Patients with a loss of heterozygosity at chromosomes 1p and 16q will be treated with Regimen M with radiation therapy to all sites of disease. Patients with metastases outside or in addition to lung metastases will be treated with Regimen M and radiation therapy.

Focal Anaplastic

  • COG-AREN0321: In this trial, patients will be treated with the UH-1 regimen (cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide for 30 weeks) and radiation therapy.

Diffuse Anaplastic (No Measurable Disease)

  • COG-AREN0321: In this trial, patients will be treated with the UH-1 regimen (cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide for 30 weeks) and radiation therapy.

Diffuse Anaplastic (Measurable Disease)

  • COG-AREN0321: In this trial, patients will be treated with window therapy consisting of vincristine and irinotecan for 12 weeks. If they respond to the window therapy, they will receive therapy consisting of UH-2 (cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide; vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide; vincristine, irinotecan, and radiation therapy) for 30 weeks. Patients not responding to the window therapy would then be treated on UH-1, which consists of cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, and etoposide alternating with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide for 30 weeks and radiation therapy.

Back to TopBack to Top

< Previous Section  |  Next Section >


A Service of the National Cancer Institute
Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health USA.gov