Max Wilms and his tumor

The most common cancer of the kidney in infants and children is named for Max Wilms, a German surgeon. How did this eponym come about? There were excellent reviews of this lesion before Wilms, a second year surgical assistant, published “Die Mischgeschwulste Der Niere” or The Mixed Tumors of the Kidney in 1899. At thirty two years of age, he demonstrated a masterful knowledge of pathology and embryology. Wilms’ career was cut short when he became septic after operating on a prisoner of war during WWI. The survival rate for children with Wilms tumor was dismal until William Ladd, at the Boston Children’s hospital introduced rational surgical treatment. By mid century, Robert Gross achieved a 47% survival rate with surgery combined with postoperative radiation. Sydney Farber treated Wilms tumors with Actinomycin-d and opened the door to cancer chemotherapy. With protocols developed by the National Wilms Tumor Study Group, the survival rate of children with Wilms tumors reached 90% by the end of the twentieth century.