ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with paediatric cancer, focusing on medulloblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma (embryonal type), neuroblastoma, and nephroblastoma (Wilms’ tumour). It discusses epidemiology, aetiology, pathology, symptoms and signs, diagnosis and investigations, treatment, surgery, and therapy, and treatment-related complications of the cancers, In children, CNS tumours can have an insidious onset with irritability and failure to achieve appropriate milestones. Initial treatment following the diagnosis of a posterior fossa tumour will be surgery. In rhabdomyosarcoma (embryonal type), presenting symptoms depend on the site of origin. Many arise as rapidly enlarging but painless masses. Surgery is the treatment of choice in the absence of advanced distant metastases. For urogenital, truncal and limb rhabdomyosarcoma, wide resection is usually performed. The chapter also briefly discusses other tumours, namely, Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis, retinoblastoma, and germ cell tumours.
