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Objective. To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of 8- to 12-year-old children undergoing therapy for cancer or childhood-cancer survivors by using the Minneapolis-Manchester Quality of Life-Youth Form (MMQL-YF), a comprehensive, multidimensional self-report instrument with demonstrable reliability and validity. Design, Setting, and Patients. The MMQL-YF consists of 32 items comprising 4 scales: physical functioning, psychologic functioning, physical symptoms, and outlook on life. Scoring on the MMQL ranges from 1 to 5; 5 indicates maximal HRQL. An overall quality-of-life (QOL) score is also computed. By using a cross-sectional study design, the MMQL-YF was administered to 90 off-therapy cancer survivors, 72 children with cancer undergoing active therapy, and 481 healthy children without a history of cancer or other chronic disease. Results. Compared with healthy controls, children actively undergoing cancer treatment report low overall QOL, physical functioning, and outlook-on-life scores. However, off-therapy survivors report a superior overall QOL, compared with age-matched healthy controls. Conclusions. Young survivors of childhood cancer report a favorable HRQL relative to healthy controls. These results are reassuring, suggesting that this group of survivors may have been too young to encounter some of the negative psychosocial impacts of cancer and its treatment, health-related quality of life, childhood-cancer survivors., ABBREVIATIONS. HRQL, health-related quality of life; QOL, quality of life; MMQL, Minneapolis-Manchester Quality of Life; YF, Youth Form; RR, relative risk; CI, confidence interval. Treatment advances over the past decades [...]

This article investigates the influence of mental depression, perception, and illness on child cancer patients' quality of life. Topics include the relationship between parent and child, stress, and child psychology.

Byline: Gordan M. Vujanic (1), Meriel E.M. Jenney (2), Haydn Adams (3), Simon M. Meyrick (2) Keywords: Key words: cystic nephroma, renal tumors, Wilms' tumor Abstract: We report a case of juxtaposed Wilms' tumor (WT) and cystic nephroma (CN) in a 21-month-old girl which gave rise to radiological diagnostic difficulty. Preoperative chemotherapy was given, resulting in marked tumor necrosis but the cystic nephroma remained untouched. Histological examination showed characteristic features of a triphasic WT and a CN the two lesions were separated by a thick fibrous capsule. While everybody agrees that WT and cystic partially differentiated nephroblastoma (CPDN) are closely related, there are two opposite views about their relationship to CN. One is that CN may represent the final step in maturation of WT and CPDN. Other authors argue that there is no evidence to support this theory but believe CN might have something in common with nephrogenic rests. We suggest that the two lesions in the present case may have originated from two intralobar nephrogenic rests, which would strengthen the latter view. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN, UK , GB (2) Department of Paediatric Oncology, Llandough Hospital, Penarth near Cardiff CF64 2XX, UK , GB (3) Department of Radiology, Llandough Hospital, Penarth near Cardiff CF64 2XX, UK , GB Article note: Received November 2, 1998 accepted February 16, 1999.