Dr. Geller on Renal Rhabdoid Tumors in Pediatric Patients

James I. Geller, MD, medical director, Kidney and Liver Tumors Program, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, discusses renal rhabdoid tumors in pediatric patients.

In general, rhabdoid tumors are rare in pediatrics. Geller says that rhabdoid tumors are often sectioned into brain and non-brain tumors. There are only about 30 non-brain rhabdoid tumors diagnosed annually in the United States, including those that occur in the kidney. The disease is also very aggressive, with a very low survival rate among children.

Currently, the standard of care for stage I/II disease is multimodality therapy. Five-drug chemotherapy regimens with surgery and radiation can cure the majority of these children with renal rhabdoid tumors, says Geller. However, only 1 in 5 patients present early, and survival rates drop significantly in later stages of disease. Geller says that investigators are trying to develop better therapies for pediatric patients with renal rhabdoid tumors.