Abstract:
Objective: To report and discuss late relapse of cured malignant tumors in childhood.Methods: The enrolled patients relapsed 5 years after completion of treatment for the primary tumor.Data including age of onset, pathologic type, event-free interval and treatment were analyzed. Results:Seven cases were presented in this study. The age of onset for the initial disease ranged from 2 to 7years old, while that of relapsed cases ranged from 11 to 26. The event-free interval ranged from 7 to20 years. The cases included multiple types of malignancies consisting of neuroblastoma, malignant schwannoma, Wilms tumor, hepatoblastoma, and pancreatic cyst (solid tumors). Of the 7 patients, 2 diedafter the second surgery, 4 survived for 1.5 to 5 years after the second surgery while undergoing treatment or postoperative follow-up. The other patient was lost to follow-up after confirmation of the recurrence. Conclusion: Late relapse of cured malignant tumor in childhood is uncommon.Histopathology of the recurrence remains consistent with the primary tumor, although the event-freeinterval is quite long. The age of most patients with relapse is usually below 18. Local recurrence occurs in most of the cases, with or without metastasis. Even with recurrent disease, there remains an opportunity to cure the patient after treatment of the relapse.