Wilms's tumor—a comparison of 2 criteria for survival

✍ Scribed by Benjamin B. Platt; George Linden

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1964
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 440 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(196412)17:12<1573::aid-cncr2820171209>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

mately 200/, of all malignant tumors of childhood. It originates from the mesodermal cells formed in the embryo: these cells retain their ability to grow and differentiate.l A clinician confronted by a case of Wilms's tumor must inevitably face the parents' question, "What are my child's chances of survival?" Turning to the literature, the clinician will meet a bewildering array of statistics. Quoted survival figures range from 8 x 7 to 47y0.+3 Adding to the confusion, criteria for survival are not clearly defined. A single paper may use several different criteria and some papers may present "cure rates" without defining the term.6 The clinician will find it impossible to select a reasonable figure to present to the parents as representing their child's chances of survival.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to compare 2 criteria for survival in the hope that their individual implications may be noted and that their intelligent use will become more widespread and, second, to summarize the data on 99 cases of Wilms's tumor from the California Tumor Registry,3 which will then constitute one of the largest single series in the literature.

CRITERIA

Most cancer survival statistics are of the fixed-interval type, that is, the figures report the percentage of patients who survive a given period past the time of treatment. The time, usually 5 years for tumors in adults, remains the same regardless of age.