Latest Neuroblastoma Stories

A new study published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that positron emission tomography (PET) is an important tool for depicting the extent of neuroblastoma in some patients, particularly for those in the early stages of the disease. Neuroblastoma accounts for six to ten percent of all childhood cancers in the United States and 15 percent of cancer deaths in children. Accurately identifying where in the body the disease is located and whether it is spreading is...

Survivors of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma are eight times more likely to have chronic health conditions, less likely to be married, and more likely to have lower incomes than their siblings, according to a study published online July 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.This study was undertaken because minimal information exists on the long-term outcomes for neuroblastoma survivors.Caroline Laverdiere, M.D., of the Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, and colleagues...

U.S. doctors conducted the first drug trial to help children with an often-fatal but little-understood cancer after identifying risk genes, the doctors say. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctors say they hope to figure out what triggers neuroblastoma -- the most common cancer in infancy -- and why about half the cases are relatively benign and clear up on their own while the other half are more malignant. The doctors first scanned the DNA of hundreds of children with the disease...

A group led by Dr. Han-Fei Ding of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA reports that the oncogene MYCN may drive neuronal progenitor cell proliferation, contributing to neuroblastoma development. This study can be found in the August 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.Neuroblastomas are the most common cancer in infancy, and nearly 50% of neuroblastomas occur in children under the age of two. Approximately 22% of neuroblastomas, which commonly contain undifferentiated or...

Research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota indicates that a baby born to an older mother may have a slightly increased risk for many of the cancers that occur during childhood."Our finding shows that although the absolute risk is low, advancing maternal age may be a factor and explain why, after other factors are adjusted for, some children get cancer," said Logan Spector, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and cancer epidemiology researcher. Spector and Kimberly...

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: KERX) announced today the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate KRX-0401 (perifosine) as a single agent treatment for recurrent solid tumors in pediatric patients. This Phase 1 study is now open for enrollment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Oren Becher, MD, Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, in coordination with Eric Holland, MD, PhD, Director of the Brain Tumor...

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that endoscopic surgery is a valid treatment option for treating esthesioneuroblastoma (cancer of the nasal cavity), in addition to traditional open surgery and nonsurgical treatments. These findings appear in the July issue of Laryngoscope.Esthesioneuroblastoma is a very rare cancer that develops in the upper part of the nasal cavity and thought to derive from neural tissue associated with the sense of smell. While this...

Researchers have identified a genetic glitch that could lead to development of neuroblastoma, a deadly form of cancer that typically strikes children under 2.Two University of Florida scientists are part of the multicenter team of researchers that made the discovery, which could pave the way for better treatments that target the disease, according to findings published Wednesday in the journal Nature."What makes our study so important is that although neuroblastoma accounts for 7 percent...

--Whole-Genome Searches Are Revealing Secrets of a Childhood Cancer-- PHILADELPHIA, June 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two new studies from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia advance the search for genetic events that result in neuroblastoma, a puzzling, often-deadly type of childhood cancer. Originating in the peripheral nervous system, neuroblastoma is the most common solid cancer of early childhood and causes 15 percent of all childhood cancer deaths. "Only two years ago we had...

- In a First, Immunotherapy Works Against Neuroblastoma - PHILADELPHIA, June 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A multicenter research team has announced encouraging results for an experimental therapy using elements of the body's immune system to improve cure rates for children with neuroblastoma, a challenging cancer of the nervous system. John M. Maris, M.D., chief of Oncology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, co-authored the phase 3 clinical trial, which was led by Alice Yu,...