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Pediatric Surgery pp 1–18Cite as

Neuroblastoma

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Abstract

Neuroblastoma is a heterogeneous disease; tumors can spontaneously regress or mature or display an aggressive, therapy-resistant phenotype. Increasing evidence indicates that the biologic and molecular features of neuroblastoma significantly influence and are highly predictive of clinical behavior. Because of this, neuroblastoma has served as a paradigm for biological risk assessment and treatment assignment. Most current clinical studies of neuroblastoma base therapy and its intensity on a risk stratification that takes into account both clinical and biologic variables predictive of relapse. For example, surgery alone offers definitive therapy with excellent outcome for patients with low-risk disease, while patients at high risk of disease relapse are treated with intensive multimodality therapy. Further refinements in the risk assignment algorithm and the development of targeted therapies based on an increased understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of neuroblastoma continue to be investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This chapter has been adapted from the author’s own chapters in the following publications: Seminars in Pediatric Surgery (Volume 21, Issue 1, February 2012). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. and Ashcraft’s Pediatric Surgery (Fifth edition) edited by George Whitfield Holcomb, III, J. Patrick Murphy and Daniel J. Ostlie. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc.

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  1. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Andrew M. Davidoff

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  1. Andrew M. Davidoff
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Correspondence to Andrew M. Davidoff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Our Lady’s Children's Hospital, National Children’s Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland

    Prem Puri

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Davidoff, A.M. (2020). Neuroblastoma. In: Puri, P. (eds) Pediatric Surgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38482-0_146-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38482-0_146-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-38482-0

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