Pediatric Neuroblastoma


According to the American Cancer Society the most common type childhood cancers are quoted to from the site to be the following:

Leukemia
Brain and other nervous system tumors
Neuroblastoma
Wilms tumor
Lymphoma
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Retinoblastoma
Bone cancer

Pictures and videos of children suffering from Cancer are usually shown with little girls with no hair and limp boys who do not have the strength to lift toy trucks.  The assumption is in many cases that most have diseased blood such as Leukemia which is not blood that is "dirty" at all.  Of course it is a condition of cancer that statistically stands for about 1 in 3 childhood victims so it could be why the public envisions blood cancers as being the leading cause of childhood cancer sicknesses.  Another well promoted condition is bone cancer.  The public is well familiar with the need of bone-marrow transplants needed.  Retinoblastoma detailed in an article linked to the word Retinoblastoma above in the list of cancers mostly associated with children and neuroblastoma are too that do not get much press.  All conditions listed before run in stages once diagnosed.  It is no different than in children the progression of cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, Neuroblastoma has four stages that are prevalent in patients. In the first stage, the tumor stations in one area and cannot be removed during surgery. In the same stage, the opposite is a reality.  But in stage two, if the tumor is seen and can be removed completely in part 2 of the second stage, cancer cells are seen near the lymph nodes.   In stages three and four of Neuroblastoma, the tumor cannot be removed, has spread from one side of the body to the other to lymph nodes nearby, the cancer stays on one side but spread to the nodes on the other and or lastly, the tumor is in the middle of the body, has spread to tissues or lymph nodes on both sides of the body and surgery will not relieve the condition.  The fourth and final stage entails the skin, other parts of the body, maybe the liver and or bone marrow, yet doctors may be able to remove the tumor that started the process.

It may sound fatal, but it all depends on one of three risk groups that are categorized as low, intermediate or high.  Only high risk are said to be difficult to cure according to the National Cancer Institute website.  There are various new treatments for Neuroblastoma.  NANT Trials are readily looking for more ways for least invasive procedures.  New Therapy New Hope is a site that also helps with childhood cancer care specifically geared to Neuroblastoma cells and treatments with fewer side effects.  NANT is another pediatric cancer center that takes donations for this cause.



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