We are trained to care for all aspects of tumor surgery in infants, children, and teenagers. However, some tumors involve a specific area of the body and require a specialist, such as bone tumors, which require the expertise of orthopedic surgeons, and brain tumors, which require the expertise of neurosurgeons.
We participate in many aspects of care for children with tumors. This may be from the initial evaluation and ordering of tests or x-rays for a child with a "lump" or "mass" to performing biopsies (removing a small piece for evaluation or diagnosis) of suspicious "lumps", lymph nodes (glands), or "masses." The biopsy is an initial step in making the diagnosis of a tumor. We also perform surgeries to remove tumors and perform procedures to place "central venous lines", or "ports", under the skin to give chemotherapy in a less painful and more effective way.
Our team may evaluate children and teens with:
- an abdominal mass (lump or swelling in the belly)
- a mass seen on the chest or seen on chest x-ray
- a lump or swollen gland in the neck, axilla (armpit), groin or elsewhere
- a swollen testicle
- a thyroid nodule
We work closely with pediatric oncologists (pediatric tumor specialists) in assessing the stage of a tumor (or how far it has spread), in planning the appropriate therapy (chemotherapy or radiation), and the proper timing of surgery. Our surgeons and pediatric oncologists meet to plan treatments for children with tumors.
Examples of tumors that we remove or biopsy include:
- tumors in the neck (thyroid gland tumors, lymphoma, sarcoma, benign tumors like hygroma, etc.)
- tumors in the chest (nodules in the lung, tumors of the thymus/thymoma, mediastinal tumors or lymphomas, neuroblastoma)
- tumors of the chest wall (sarcoma of the ribs or muscles)
- liver tumors (hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangioma, hemangioendothelioma, mesenchymal hamartoma)
- other abdominal tumors (neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, lymphoma, tumors of the intestinal tract)
- kidney tumors (Wilm's tumor, renal cell carcinoma, etc.)
- tumors of the testicle (germ cell tumor, seminoma, etc.)
- endocrine tumors (glands that make hormones: thyroid tumors, parathyroid adenomas, thymomas, adrenal gland tumors-pheochromocytoma, etc)
- tumors of the newborn (sacrococcygeal teratoma, hemangioma, hygroma, etc.)
- tumors of the ovary, vagina, or breast (teratoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, fibroadenoma, etc.)