Treatment outcomes in patients less than 2 years of age with small, stage I, favorable-histology Wilms' tumors: a report from the National Wilms' Tumor Study

Abstract

Purpose: Retrospective analyses were performed to determine the effect of tumor weight and therapy modifications on outcome in patients less than 2 years of age with stage I favorable-histology Wilms' tumors.

Patients and methods: The 4-year relapse-free and overall survival percentages for patients randomized to different treatment regimens in National Wilms' Tumor Studies (NWTS)-1, -2, and -3 were calculated and compared.

Results: The 4-year relapse-free survival percentages of patients whose specimen weight was less than 550 g were found to be 89.1% on NWTS-1, 96.0% on NWTS-2, and 93.2% on NWTS-3. There was no evidence that the relapse-free survival of these patients had improved over time (P value for trend = .99). The 4-year relapse-free survival percentage for similar age and stage patients whose specimen weight was 550 g or greater was significantly poorer than that of patients with smaller tumors (P = .02).

Conclusion: Changes in the NWTS treatment regimens over a period of more than 20 years have not improved on the excellent prognosis of patients who are less than 2 years of age at diagnosis and who have a stage I, favorable-histology Wilms' tumor with specimen weight less than 550 g. These data could be used as the basis for a future trial in which a subgroup of such patients is treated with nephrectomy only.