Abstract
Background
Wilms’ tumor is the second most common pediatric abdominal cancer, however, it rarely involves the female reproductive tract. There are few cases reported in the literature describing uterine, ovarian, cervical and vaginal involvement.
Case
We report the case of a 7-year-old girl presenting with a large renal mass with retroperitoneal nodal and lung metastases; she was diagnosed with stage 4 favorable histology Wilms’ tumor. She was treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She presented with vaginal bleeding 10 months after completing treatment; biopsy of a vaginal mass confirmed recurrence, and this was sent for molecular profiling, which did not identify an inherited cancer predisposition or targetable mutation. She was again treated with chemotherapy; examination redemonstrated a small vaginal mass, but re-biopsy of the lesion was negative for malignancy. Due to high risk of local relapse, ongoing chemotherapy and pelvic radiation ensued. End of treatment imaging and vaginoscopy showed no residual disease.
Summary and conclusion
Vaginal metastases of Wilms’ tumor are very rare; this is the second reported case in the literature. Pediatric clinicians should have a strong suspicion for vaginal metastases in cancer patients presenting with vaginal bleeding especially when their pubertal development does not suggest that bleeding would be secondary to menarche. Long-term gynecologic care for these patients is paramount to reduce morbidity from chemotherapy and pelvic radiation. Fertility preservation counselling should be made early, through referral to a specialist.
Other Areas of Research:
Gynecology and oncology
Researchers
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Tania Dumont
Investigaor, CHEO Research Institute