Early symptoms of neuroblastoma

Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
Updated on September 25, 2024
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For patients with neuroblastoma, the early stages of the disease often manifest as mild headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. The symptoms are relatively mild and can be significantly alleviated by taking oral pain relief medications. Therefore, the condition often does not receive adequate attention, leading to missed diagnoses. As the tumor size increases, the original symptoms such as headaches and dizziness will significantly worsen. Some patients may even experience optic nerve atrophy, papilledema, reduced visual fields, and vision deficits. When such conditions occur, patients often undergo cranial CT or MRI scans to confirm the presence of neuroblastoma.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Early symptoms of neuroblastoma

For neuroblastoma, in the early stages of the disease, mild headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting often occur, but the symptoms are relatively mild and most can be tolerated. As the disease gradually progresses and the tumor volume begins to increase, it compresses the surrounding brain tissue and cranial nerves, causing the patient to exhibit certain degrees of headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and other clinical manifestations. As the tumor volume further increases and cerebral edema becomes apparent with elevated intracranial pressure, it may lead to cranial nerve dysfunction in patients. For instance, it might trigger epileptic seizures or cause patients to experience hemiplegia, aphasia, and other clinical manifestations. Once these symptoms occur, it is advisable to visit a local hospital early for treatment.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Can neuroblastoma be treated?

Neuroblastoma is the most common tumor in childhood, and it is also the most common in infants and toddlers. Typically, neuroblastoma is a type of neuroendocrine tumor, clinically found often in the adrenal glands or in nervous tissues such as the neck, chest, and abdomen. Currently, neuroblastoma can be effectively classified according to its level of risk into low-risk, intermediate-risk, or high-risk groups. For patients in the low-risk group, surgical treatment can achieve satisfactory results; for patients in the intermediate-risk or high-risk groups, treatment often involves a combination of methods, yet still may not achieve satisfactory results.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Early symptoms of neuroblastoma

For patients with neuroblastoma, the early stages of the disease often manifest as mild headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. The symptoms are relatively mild and can be significantly alleviated by taking oral pain relief medications. Therefore, the condition often does not receive adequate attention, leading to missed diagnoses. As the tumor size increases, the original symptoms such as headaches and dizziness will significantly worsen. Some patients may even experience optic nerve atrophy, papilledema, reduced visual fields, and vision deficits. When such conditions occur, patients often undergo cranial CT or MRI scans to confirm the presence of neuroblastoma.

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home-news-image
Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
40sec home-news-image

Precursors to neuroblastoma recurrence

For neuroblastoma, if recurrence occurs, the patient may show symptoms like recurrent headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Additionally, if the optic nerve is involved, there may be a decrease in vision and visual field defects. Even the possibility exists that the tumor could recur, increase in size, and compress surrounding important blood vessels and nerves, leading to an increase in intracranial pressure, which manifests as worsening of the original symptoms of headaches and dizziness. Once such symptoms occur, it generally suggests a high likelihood of neuroblastoma recurrence. If it causes symptoms such as hemiplegia and aphasia, it can generally be confirmed.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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How to avoid neuroblastoma

To avoid neuroblastoma, it is recommended to develop good living habits in daily life, including maintaining over 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day to keep physically healthy. Additionally, it is advisable to consume more fruits rich in vitamin C, which contain abundant vitamins that can effectively serve as antioxidants. Keeping good sleep habits, going to bed early and waking up early, avoiding staying up late and long durations of using mobile phones or computers to minimize excessive exposure to electromagnetic radiation. In daily life, one should also learn self-protection, avoid contact with carcinogenic chemicals, and avoid excessive exposure to radioactive pollution. All these measures can effectively prevent the condition.