KENDALL, Fla. – When Cassie Lazo blew out the candles on her 9th birthday cake, it was a cause for celebration.
“She’s a very hyper, spontaneous energetic little girl and she’s my happy person,” said Cassie’s mom, Frances Lazo.
In 2021, Cassie was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor, also known as nephroblastoma.
Dr. Doured Daghistani, Medical Director of Pediatric Oncology at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, said it’s the most common cancer of the kidneys in children.
“The most common presentation is an abdominal mass,” he said.
Other warning signs include swelling and pain the stomach area, fever, blood in the urine, anemia and high blood pressure.
“And at that time we said this is aggressive, we need to treat it aggressively and we took it out, we took the metastasis out, and we did radiation therapy and we give her a new round of chemotherapy which was much longer at that time and more aggressive basically,” said Daghistani.
Cassie made it through the second round of treatment with flying colors and is now in remission.
“I want her to see life as a gift and it is a gift that she has now,” said Lazo.
Daghistani said Wilms Tumor is typically diagnosed in children between the ages of 3 to 4, but it can also affect older children and even adults.