This page includes scientific papers, results and related data that are published by ACGT researchers in connection with the Breast Cancer and Wilm's Tumour clinical trials. Information is structured by Clinical Trial.
Wilm's tumour is the most common malignant renal tumour in children. Dramatic improvements in survival have occurred as the result of advances in anesthetic and surgical management, irradiation and chemotherapy. Today treatments are based on several multicentre trials and studies conducted by the SIOP in Europe and COG in the USA. Main objectives of these trials and studies are to treat patients according to well-defined risk groups in order to achieve highest cure rates, to decrease the frequency and intensity of acute and late toxicity and to minimize the cost of therapy. In that way the SIOP trials and studies largely focus on the issue of preoperative therapy. The concept of neoadjuvant chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment for most pediatric solid tumours today. The complete surgical removal of a shrunken tumour is facilitated, mutilation caused by surgical procedures is minimized or avoided and micrometastases, not visible at diagnosis, are treated as early as possible. Besides that, response to treatment can be measured individually by tumour volume reduction and/or percentage of therapy induced necrosis at the time of surgery in the histological specimen. This might give an early individual prognostic parameter and can be used for further stratifying and more individualizing postoperative treatment as in other pediatric cancers. Clinical trials for Wilm's tumour continue to seek risk factors for further stratifying and individualizing treatment. Questions in the future will mainly address molecular genetic findings for a better understanding of Wilm's tumour, hopefully influencing treatment and outcome.
