Reflections on 20 years of the Wilms Africa project: Lessons learned and the way forward

Trijn Israels; Eric Borgstein; Steve Kamiza; Brenda Mallon; Annelies M C Mavinkurve-Groothuis; Francine Kouya; Joyce Balagadde; Nickhill Bhakta; Lorna Awo Renner; André Ilbawi; Leo Masamba; Kathy Pritchard-Jones; Vivian Paintsil; George Chagaluka; Elizabeth Molyneux

doi:10.1002/pbc.31386

Reflections on 20 years of the Wilms Africa project: Lessons learned and the way forward

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2025 Jan;72(1):e31386. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31386. Epub 2024 Oct 13.

Authors

Trijn Israels^{1

2}, Eric Borgstein³, Steve Kamiza⁴, Brenda Mallon⁵, Annelies M C Mavinkurve-Groothuis⁶, Francine Kouya⁷, Joyce Balagadde^{8

9}, Nickhill Bhakta^{10

11}, Lorna Awo Renner¹², André Ilbawi¹³, Leo Masamba¹⁴, Kathy Pritchard-Jones¹⁵, Vivian Paintsil¹⁶, George Chagaluka², Elizabeth Molyneux²

Affiliations

¹ CANCaRe Africa, The Collaborative African Network for Childhood Cancer Care and Research, Blantyre, Malawi.
² Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), Blantyre, Malawi.
³ Paediatric Surgery, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), Blantyre, Malawi.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), Blantyre, Malawi.
⁵ French African Pediatric Oncology Group (GFAOP), Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
⁶ Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁷ Mbingo Baptist Hospital, Mbingo, Cameroon.
⁸ Uganda Cancer Institute, Kampala, Uganda.
⁹ International Society of Pediatric Oncology - SIOP Africa, Kampala, Uganda.
¹⁰ Global Pediatric Medicine Department, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
¹¹ Adapted Resource and Implementation Application (ARIA), Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
¹² Child Health, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Accra, Accra, Ghana.
¹³ Technical Officer for Cancer Control, World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁴ International Blantyre Cancer Centre (IBCC), Blantyre, Malawi.
¹⁵ Developmental Biology and Cancer Research and Teaching Dept, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁶ Department of Child Health, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

PMID: 39397319
DOI: 10.1002/pbc.31386

Abstract

Wilms tumour (WT) is one of the common and curable childhood cancer types included in the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) to monitor progress. Local evidence is key to finding effective and sustainable solutions to local challenges to improve care and survival. Local evidence generated by the Wilms Africa project is summarised with recommendations for the future.

Keywords: Africa; Wilms; nephroblastoma; resource‐limited settings; survival.

MeSH terms

Africa / epidemiology
Child
Humans
Kidney Neoplasms* / therapy
Wilms Tumor* / therapy

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding