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Treatment for Removable Tumors

Patients with a removable tumor will first undergo surgery to remove the tumor, and then will be treated with chemotherapy and radiation.

Surgery

Surgery should be done by a pediatric surgeon or pediatric urologist that is used to taking care of children with cancer. After the surgeon has checked the whole abdomen for any additional signs of tumor, the whole kidney including the tumor is usually removed. In addition, the surgeon will take out some lymph nodes to check whether or not any tumor is present in these lymph nodes.

If your child's tumor was not originally in the kidney, the process will be different because the surgeon will not make a cut in the abdomen, exposing the kidneys. The surgeon will make a cut exposing the area in which your child's original tumor lies, and will remove the tumor from that area.

Chemotherapy

After surgery, patients are treated with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to kill any tumor cells left over after surgery.

Chemotherapy is determined by your child's tumor stage. Two protocol regimens are used to treat rhabdoid tumors:

Rhabdoid tumor is primarily treated with Regimen UH1. However, if your child has a Stage III-IV tumor, they can participate in the clinical trial by the Children's Oncology Group, Irinotecan/Vincristine Window Therapy, that may significantly improve their treatment. This treatment may not work for every patient, and in that case patients would be put on Regimen UH1.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is usually given during the first week of chemotherapy and very soon after removal of the tumor. This minimizes the chance for any tumor cells that might have been left behind, to grow.