COMMON SOLID TUMORS OF CHILDHOOD

CHILDHOOD cancer is rare in the United States, but it is the leading cause of death from disease in children 1 to 15 years old.1 The majority of cancers in children are malignant solid tumors, and about 4000 new cases are diagnosed each year.1 Enormous strides have been made in the management of these neoplasms since Farber first demonstrated the sensitivity of metastatic Wilms' tumor to dactinomycin in the mid-1960s.2 For example, rates of cure for solid tumors have increased by as much as 50 percent; new histologic subtypes with implications for prognosis have been identified and incorporated into systems. © 1991, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.