Detailed Information on Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. Neuroblastoma is one of the most common concrete tumours of early childhood usually found in babies or young children. It is rarely create in adult than ten years. The cells of this cancer commonly look like very primitive developing nerve cells found in an embryo or fetus. The most common situate is the abdomen (near the adrenal gland) but can also be found in the chest, neck, pelvis, or other sites. There are two adrenal glands, one on top of each kidney in the back of the upper abdomen. The adrenal glands are specialised glands which are found above the kidneys.

They liberate hormones to maintain blood pressure, and enable us to respond to stress. Neuroblastoma has been called the great mimicker because of its myriad clinical presentations related to the site of the primary tumor, metastatic disease, and its metabolic tumor by-products. Symptoms of the disease vary depending on where the tumor is located.  The most common symptoms of neuroblastoma are caused by the tumor pressing on nearby tissues as it grows or by cancer spreading to the bone. These and other symptoms may be caused by neuroblastoma.

The most common symptoms are a lump in the abdomen, neck or chest, bulging eyes, dark circles around the eyes, bone pain, swollen stomach and trouble breathing in babies and painless. The first symptoms are often hazy, such as loss of appetite, tiredness and pain in the bones. Others symptoms are bluish lumps under the skin in babies and inability to move a body part. The cause of neuroblastoma is unknown, and no specific environmental exposure or risk factors have been identified. Treatment of neuroblastoma depends on the age of the child, the size and position of the tumour.

Surgery is common in neuroblastoma treatment and serves to take out as much of the cancer as possible. If necessary, surgery is delayed until chemotherapy and/or radiation has decreased tumor size. Chemotherapy uses chemicals to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy targets rapidly growing cells in the body, including cancer cells. Children with high-risk neuroblastoma may receive a transplant using their own blood stem cells (autologous stem cell transplant). The bone marrow makes stem cells, which mature and develop into the red and white cells and platelets that make up the blood.