Can Wilms Tumors Be Found Early?

Screening for Wilms tumors

Screening is testing for a disease like cancer in people with no signs or symptoms. There are no blood tests or other tests that are useful in screening otherwise healthy children for Wilms tumors. (See Signs and Symptoms of Wilms Tumors.)

Wilms tumors can be found earlier in some children with tests such as an ultrasound of the abdomen. (See Tests for Wilms Tumors.) But because these tumors are rare, screening all children with ultrasound exams is not practical.  

Screening for children at increased risk of Wilms tumors

Screening is very important for children who have syndromes or birth defects known to be linked to Wilms tumors.

Syndromes and birth defects linked to Wilms tumors include:

• Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome
• WAGR syndrome
• Denys-Drash syndrome
• Frasier syndrome

For these children, most doctors recommend physical exams by a specialist and ultrasound exams of the kidneys on a regular basis (for example, about every 3 or 4 months at least until the age of 7). This testing can sometimes find kidney tumors when they are still small and have not yet spread to other organs.

Wilms tumor can also run in families, although this is rare. Talk to your doctor if any of your relatives had a Wilms tumor. If so, the children in your family may need regular ultrasound exams of the abdomen.

If a person is known to have inherited a WT1 gene mutation, genetic testing can be done to see if they passed the mutation on to their children. This testing can be done even before birth.