|
|
 |
Neuroblastoma
|
|
|
|
|
|
Neuroblastoma (NBL) -- one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant childhood cancers -- is a disease of the nervous system, which manifests in ways defying easy diagnosis. After brain tumors, NBL is the most common solid tumor of childhood incidence, with 500 - 600 new victims in the United States each year. Treatment normally involves several rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, surgery, local and total-body irradiation, and one or more stem cell or bone marrow transplansts.
|
|
|
|
|
In addition, in especially severe cases
like Susanna’s, one or more experimental treatments may be administered, such as targeted therapies like monoclonal antibodies, which, unlike chemotherapy, seek and destroy only cancerous cells.
|
|
|
|
Areas of research have included screening to determine
which newborns may have the disease; new kinds and combinations of chemotherapy and targeted therapies; immune system enhancers; and, most recently, bioinformatics to understand possible mechanisms of genetic
factors.
|
|
