Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is a kind of cancer that usually occurs in children and infants. This kind of cancer mostly affects the Autonomic nervous system. The cancer creates tumors, but the cells or pieces of the tumors do not fully finish growing. There are about 650 cases per year in the United States.[1] About half of these cases occur in children younger than two years old.[2] The tumors can grow from any neural crest element of the sympathetic nervous system. Most of the time, it comes from one of the adrenal glands. It can also start growing in nerve tissues in the neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis.

Neuroblastoma is one of the few malignant types of cancer that sometimes goes away on its own, for no obvious reason.[3]

Types and forms

The illness can have many different forms. There are three risk categories (types): low, intermediate (medium), and high risk. Low-risk disease is most common in infants, who usually get better, though they may need to have surgery. High-risk disease is very difficult for doctors to make better.[4]

Esthesioneuroblastoma, which is also called "olfactory neuroblastoma", comes from the olfactory epithelium and doctors are still not sure what type of cancer it is. It is not a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system, and is not the same thing as neuroblastoma.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "eMedicine - Neuroblastoma : Article by Norman J Lacayo, MD". Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  2. ↑ Janet Sassi, "Cellular Communication: Unraveling the Secrets of Histone Proteins" Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, Fordham University, February 16, 2007
  3. ↑ Bénard J, Raguénez G, Kauffmann A; et al. (October 2008). "MYCN-non-amplified metastatic neuroblastoma with good prognosis and spontaneous regression: a molecular portrait of stage 4S". Mol Oncol. 2 (3): 261–71. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2008.07.002. PMC 5527812. PMID 19383347.{cite journal}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "ScienceDirect - The Lancet : Neuroblastoma".[permanent dead link]
  5. ↑ "eMedicine - Esthesioneuroblastoma : Article by Pavel Dulguerov, MD". Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  6. ↑ Cheung, Nai-Kong (2005). Neuroblastoma. p. 73. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3-540-40841-X.