Children’s Hospital records 90% cure rate in children with Wilms tumors

Being back at the Hospital da Criança de Brasília (HCB), now as a visitor, generated a whirlwind of feelings for professor Géssika Dourado, 33 years old. After five long years of treatment, the feeling is gratitude for finally being able to say that her daughter Débora, now 11 years old, is cured of kidney cancer, known as Wilms’ tumors.

Each year, HCB welcomes, on average, around 40 patients with leukemia and 12 with Wilms tumors. The hospital has 200 beds for all specialties. Of these, 56 are in the ICU. In the public health network in the Federal District, all childhood cancer patients are treated by the institution.

Thanks to the high expertise of the technical staff combined with cutting-edge equipment, HCB recorded an increase in the survival rate of children diagnosed with Wilms tumors. Data from 2018 to 2023 indicate that 90% of children with Wilms tumors admitted to Hospital da Criança did not have relapses within five years after the end of treatment for the disease.

Little Débora is part of this statistic. “Today I can say that my daughter is cured”, said the mother, emotionally. The young woman contracted the disease while still in her mother’s womb, in 2012, a fact that was, until then, unknown to medicine. “During prenatal care they saw that there was something in her kidney, but it was only after two months of birth that they diagnosed her with Wilms, stage 3, that is, very aggressive for her age”, reported Géssika.

From then on, the race against time began. Weekly trips to the Base and Children’s hospitals, hospitalizations, chemotherapy, surgeries and a KPC (superbug) infection along the way. Optimism and faith were crucial for first-time parents to trust in the treatment provided by the institution, which is now considered a reference in the country.

“Wilms is the only tumor for which treatment begins even before the biopsy. The diagnosis is made by imaging examination. The child needs to undergo surgery, where the part is removed to be examined and then a new treatment can be devised”, said oncologist and pediatric hematologist, technical director of HCB, Isis Magalhães.

Now cured, Débora has been without the need for treatment for more than five years. Visits to the HCB are still only for monitoring, every two years. “The care at the hospital was extremely important because we didn’t even imagine that a baby could be born with cancer”, said Géssika.

Asked what it felt like to be back at the Children’s Hospital, Géssika said, emotionally: “I feel a lot of gratitude because I saw children dying at that time. I even thought she was, because a lot of things happened during the treatment”, she added. “Whenever I come here to the hospital it’s a mix of emotions. I remember what I went through, I see so many mothers in the same situation and I leave happy that we overcame it all.”

Healthy eating and drinking plenty of fluids are some recommendations that little Débora will need to carry for the rest of her life, but none of this compares to the difficulties faced during treatment. “I don’t remember anything that happened. But I try to imagine what my mother suffered with me. I see her desperate, sad and anxious. As I don’t have a kidney, I need to drink plenty of water and eat well, but I always get a reward from my mother for that,” said the little girl.

Reference

Débora’s story is another one that Brasília Children’s Hospital is very proud of. The institution is a reference not only in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most aggressive and rare form of childhood cancer, but also acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), the most common malignancy in childhood. In this type of cancer, HCB recorded an 85.7% survival rate among patients.

HCB was created in 2011, from a partnership between the Government of the Federal District (GDF) and the Brazilian Association for Assistance to Families of Children with Cancer and Hemopathies (Abrace). Intended to serve exclusively through the Unified Health System (SUS), the institution is managed by the Institute of Childhood Cancer and Specialized Pediatrics (Icipe).

“We have a team of oncologists and hematologists, as well as psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, dentists, nutritionists, psychiatrists and occupational therapists. Each person has greater expertise in a given tumor, hence the importance of a multidisciplinary team”, defended Isis Magalhães.