Abdominal and pelvic tumours in children

The abdomen and pelvis are common sites of origin for childhood cancers. After haematological malignancies and intracranial tumours, neuroblastoma is the commonest childhood cancer. It most often arises in the adrenal gland. The next commonest extracranial tumours are Wilms' tumour, arising in the kidney (nephroblastoma) and rhabdomyosarcoma which may arise in a variety of sites, typically in the pelvis. Hepatoblastoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and germ cell tumours are other abdominal and pelvic tumours seen in childhood.Many childhood tumours appear to arise from residual embryonic cells which make them more sensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy than other cell lines. Nonetheless surgery plays a crucial role in treatment, both in establishing the diagnosis and, in the majority of cases, by resection of the tumour, frequently after initial chemotherapy.