| | In the year 2007, close to 12,500 children will be diagnosed and approximately 2300 will die of cancer. Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in children between the ages of 1 and 19. Neuroblastoma accounts for 97% of the cancers of the Sympathetic Nervous System, which comprises one of the twelve major categories of the International classification of Childhood Cancers (ICCC). Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor in children second only to brain tumors and the most common cancer found in infants. The incidence rate for all sympathetic nervous system cancers was 9.5 per million children. Neuroblastoma accounts for 14% of all cancers in children younger than five years of age. What is neuroblastoma?
Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer of the sympathetic nervous system, affecting approximately 650 children in the U.S. every year. It is the second most common solid tumor in infants. Most children are diagnosed by 2.5 years of age. Up to sixty percent of them have high risk disease that has metastasized (spread to other parts of the body) by the time they are diagnosed. Survival is dependent on age and disease stage: children diagnosed before the age of 18 months have a high survival rate, but high risk children diagnosed before age 5 have about a 30 percent chance of growing up. For children over age 5, teens, and adults, the prognosis is very poor.
What is the treatment for neuroblastoma?
For children with lower stages of disease and favorable risk factors, surgery and/or some chemotherapy may be sufficient treatment. Children with high risk disease typically receive multiple rounds of harsh, high-dose chemotherapies, radiation, surgeries, and retinoid therapy. In addition, many undergo stem cell transplantation, immunotherapy and other painful treatments. Life is disrupted for the entire family--constant visits to the
cancer clinic are required and weeks are spent in the hospital. It is common for families to travel to different parts of the country and even the world seeking treatment options for their children. There is very little known about why neuroblastoma occurs, or about what factors increase the risk for occurrence. Currently, there is no known cure.
Great strides have been made in the overall survival rate of children with many types of cancer, however, this has not been the cause of neuroblastoma. These successes seen in other cancers have been the direct result of the advances and improvements made in treatment of childhood cancers due to research and funding. Much more still needs to be done and especially for children with neuroblastoma.
Continued progress on increasing the survival rate for all childhood cancers, reducing the serious side effects of cancer treatment, improving the quality of life during treatment, understanding the importance of genetics and its influences with environment exposures, are all part of the continuing efforts of many dedicated people, institutions and organizations, like Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF) and the Band of Parents. |