Abstract: Objective To analyze the clinical features and prognosis of 174 cases with Wilms tumor, and to investigate the distribution of postoperative time of death and evaluate the survival rate of the patients at different clinical stages, in order to estimate the prognosis scientifically and improve the survival rate of the affected children. Methods A total of 174 Wilms tumor patients who received treatment in Beijing Children's Hospital between May 1997 and July 2008 were analyzed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier method was used in the evaluation of survival rates to reveal the connections between clinical staging and prognosis. Results The age of onset below 5 years was in 77.0% of the 174 patients, while the male-female ratio was 1.72∶ 1. Most patients complained of abdominal mass, pathologically, FH constituted 96.9% of all cases, while UH constituted 3.1%; 73.3% deaths happened within 2 years, postoperatively. The 4 years survival rate postoperation was predicted to be 97.0% in patients at stage Ⅰ, 91.3% at stage Ⅱ, 81.5% at stage Ⅲ, and 70.5% was at stage Ⅳ, only 62.5% of the patients at stage Ⅴ. Conclusion Wilms' tumor is seen mostly in children at 5 years old or younger. The morbidity of male and female is almost the same. The postoperative death is usually within 2 years. Clinical staging is important for prognosis. A trend of decline in survival rates with the increase in clinical staging has been found. Stage Ⅰ patients' survival rate is significantly higher than that of stages Ⅲ-Ⅴ.

Key words: Wilms tumor, clinical stage, survival analysis