TriangleFOR PATIENTS · SOURCE READING
Side effects and late effects of treatment
Source: Wilms Tumor (PDQ®)–Patient Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: May 12, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary. Independent clinical review is pending.
Cancer treatments can cause side effects. Which side effects your child might have depends on the type of treatment they receive, the dose, and how their body reacts. Talk with your child's treatment team about which side effects to look for and ways to manage them.
To learn more about side effects that begin during treatment for cancer, visit Side Effects.
Source links and citations
Problems from cancer treatment that begin 6 months or later after treatment and continue for months or years are called late effects. Late effects of cancer treatment may include:
physical problems, such as trouble with exercise, mobility, strength, and flexibility
chronic health conditions that affect the heart, lungs, kidneys, intestines, and hormone levels
infertility or problems during pregnancy, including high blood pressure, early labor, or the baby being in an unusual position as birth approaches
Source links and citations
neurological symptoms, such as changes in mood, feelings, thinking, learning, or memory
second cancers (new types of cancer), such as leukemias, thyroid cancer, cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, breast cancer, or skin cancer
Source links and citations
Some late effects may be treated or controlled. It is important to talk with your child's doctors about the effects cancer treatment can have on your child. Learn more about Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer.
Source links and citations
Children with Wilms tumor and related problems may be monitored for late effects involving the kidneys.
Children with WAGR syndrome are monitored throughout their lives because they are at increased risk of developing hypertension and kidney disease.
Source links and citations
Children with Wilms tumor and an abnormal genitourinary system are monitored because they are at increased risk of late kidney failure.
Source links and citations
Children with Wilms tumor and aniridia without an abnormal genitourinary system are at lower risk but are monitored for kidney disease or kidney failure.
Source links and citations
Clinical trials are being done to find out if lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation can be used to lessen the late effects of treatment without changing how well the treatment works.
Source links and citations
Preserved source evidence · Independent clinical review pending · Not medical advice