Neuroblastoma

Abstract

Neuroblastoma is the most common solid malignant tumor in children. The prognosis is poor, and despite varying chemotherapy and radiation regimens, its status has not been altered much in the past 20 years. Seventy per cent of the patients have abdominal neuroblastomas, which carry the worst prognosis of all the possible sites for the disease. Seventy per cent of the patients have metastases at the time of diagnosis. Survival is best in children under one year of age and in those patients (8 per cent) who are fortunate enough to have only stage I disease. Stage IV disease has only a 3 per cent survival rate. Surgical removal of the tumor is still the primary therapy; irradiation is of significant benefit in patients with stage III disease. Immunotherapy offers an optimistic modality for future improvement in survival rates.