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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Although the exact cause remains unknown, it's believed that this cancer arises when your child is still developing in the womb and some of the cells that are supposed to form the kidneys fail to develop properly. Instead, they multiply in their primitive state, becoming a tumor that often becomes evident around the time a child is 3 or 4 years old.
Some cancers, such as Wilms' tumor, occur when changes (mutations) arise in your child's genes that control growth, allowing cells to multiply without restraint. In some cases, cancer is caused by genetic defects passed from parent to child. For example, some cases of Wilms' tumor are related to defects in one of two genes — either Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1) or Wilms' tumor 2 (WT2). Scientists believe that mutations in other chromosomes also may play a role in Wilms' tumor.
In other cases, there is no known familial genetic defect. Instead, something happens in the child's early development that somehow changes a gene and results in cancer.
- Detailed guide: Wilms' tumor. American Cancer Society. http://documents.cancer.org/106.00/106.00.pdf. Accessed July 22, 2009.
- Maloney K, et al. Neoplastic disease. In: Hay WW, et al. Current Diagnosis and Treatment: Pediatrics. 19th edition. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3407273. Accessed July 24, 2009.
- Wilms' tumor and other childhood kidney tumors (health professional version). National Cancer Institute. Accessed July 22, 2009.
- Chintagumpala M. Treatment and prognosis of Wilms' tumor. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 10, 2009.
