Surgery is a common treatment for Wilms' tumor. This operation is usually used only in special cases, such as when the other kidney is damaged or has already been removed. The kidney on the other side of the body can take over filtering blood. Radical nephrectomy removes the whole kidney with the tissues around it. Some lymph nodes in the area may also be removed.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drugs enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy given after an operation when there are no cancer cells that can be seen is called adjuvant therapy. If very high doses of chemotherapy are needed to treat the cancer, bone marrow may be taken from the bones before therapy and frozen until it is needed. Following chemotherapy, the bone marrow is given back through a needle in a vein.