Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41047153›Full record

SynthesisArchives of disease in childhood2026

Spotting childhood abdominal tumours: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical presentation.

Lorna Ni Cheallaigh, Jo-Fen Liu, Ashley Ball-Gamble, David Walker, Timothy A Ritzmann, Dhurgshaarna Shanmugavadivel

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Archives of disease in childhood, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lorna Ni CheallaighUCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
Jo-Fen LiuCCLG: The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, Leicester, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5796-7878
Ashley Ball-GambleCCLG: The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, Leicester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0708-0918
David WalkerChildren's Brain Tumour Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Timothy A RitzmannChildren's Brain Tumour Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4438-6588
Dhurgshaarna ShanmugavadivelLifespan and Population Health, University of Nottingham School of Medicine, Nottingham, England, UK shaarnashan@doctors.org.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-1912-4543

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify pre-diagnostic symptoms/signs for childhood abdominal tumours to inform ongoing efforts to achieve earlier diagnoses of childhood cancers.

methodsMedline (OVID), Embase (OVID) and PubMed were searched for studies published between January 2005 and December 2023, including children (<18 years) diagnosed with abdominal tumours, with no language restrictions. Pooled proportions of symptoms/signs were calculated. Sub-analyses were performed according to tumour location and age.

results133 eligible studies were identified, totalling 8611 cases. The most frequently reported symptoms/signs were abdominal mass (39.3% (31.5% to 47.5%)), pain (14.5 (10.9% to 18.5%), abdominal swelling/distension (7.2% (3.3% to 12.1%)), haematuria (7.2% (2.9% to 6.2%)), fever (3.9% (2.2% to 5.9%)) and/or hypertension (2.6% (1.4% to 4.2%)).For adrenal tumours, precocious puberty (20.6% (2.8% to 46.8%)), Cushing's syndrome (16.4% (5.9% to 30.1%)) and/or hypertension (12% (2.8% to 25.3%)) were reported.For liver tumours, abdominal mass (42.9% (0.0% to 100.0%)), abdomen mass and/or discomfort (16% (0.0% to 73.1%)), hepatomegaly (9.7% (0.0% to 60.7%)), abdominal swelling/distension (9.4% (0.0% to 64.0%)) and/or abdominal pain (7.7% (0.0% to 28.3%)) were reported.For renal tumours, abdominal mass (49.7% (39.0% to 60.5%)), abdominal pain (12.3% (8.5% to 16.6%)), haematuria (10% (7.4% to 13.0%)), abdominal swelling/distension (5.4% (1.5% to 11.2%)), hypertension (4.7% (2.5% to 7.5%)) and/or fever (3.5% (1.9% to 5.5%)) were reported.For neuroblastoma, abdominal mass (24% (7.0% to 46.4%), abdominal swelling/distension (9.2% (0.0% to 27.9%)), fever (7.4% (0.3% to 20.4%)), hepatomegaly (4.8% (0.0% to 19.8%)), anaemia/pallor (4.1% (0.0% to 13.3%)), abdominal pain (4% (0.0% to 13.4%)), screening/antenatal screening (3.4% (0.4% to 8.2%)) and/or opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome (2.7% (0.0% to 8.3%)) were reported.

conclusionsThe clinical presentation of childhood abdominal tumours varies according to location and tumour type. These variations in presentation should be used to guide interventions to facilitate earlier diagnosis, such as the UK's new Child Cancer Smart campaign.

Indexed as

Abdominal NeoplasmsEarly Detection of CancerAbdominal PainAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolHematuriaHumansChild HealthPaediatrics

Identifiers

PMID41047153
PMCPMC12911601

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.