Is neuroblastoma a cancer?

Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
Updated on September 12, 2024
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Neuroblastoma is a highly malignant tumor, one of the most malignant among neuroepithelial tumors, and thus can be considered as cancer from this perspective. Typically, its tumor biology growth pattern is that of a malignant tumor, often growing rapidly. In the early stages of the disease, it tends to adhere closely to surrounding tissues, making it difficult for surgery to be completely successful. In addition, during treatment, it can be observed that the tumor cells are highly invasive to surrounding tissues. This often leads to significant brain edema, resulting in compression of important surrounding blood vessels and nerves, causing functional damage. The tumor can also spread through the bloodstream, making it difficult to completely remove surgically, or to miss the optimal time for surgical treatment, resulting in a poor prognosis.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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How does neuroblastoma heal itself?

Neuroblastoma cannot completely heal by itself. Once neuroblastoma is detected, patients should be promptly taken to local hospitals for treatment, be hospitalized, and undergo skull CT or MRI scans. If necessary, enhanced MRI scans can be conducted to clarify the current location of the tumor and its relationship with surrounding tissues, and to determine the surgical plan. The tumor should be completely removed through surgery. After the surgery, a small amount of tumor tissue should be kept for pathological slides to assess the need for radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other related treatments based on the results of the pathological examination. For some elderly and frail patients who cannot tolerate surgery, Gamma Knife treatment can also be considered.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Can neuroblastoma be cured?

Neuroblastoma is a malignant tumor that often grows rapidly. In the early stages of the disease, it can easily invade surrounding tissues and nerves, making it very difficult to completely remove the tumor through surgery. In most cases, even after surgical treatment, there is a high tendency for recurrence in children, making it difficult to achieve a clinical cure. For most patients with neuroblastoma, early post-surgical treatment involving high doses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy can effectively reduce the likelihood of tumor recurrence and appropriately prolong the patient’s lifespan. This helps in extending the lifespan and improving the quality of life to some extent, but generally, the final prognosis remains poor.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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neuroblastoma cure rate

Neuroblastoma is relatively likely to be a malignant tumor, typically characterized by rapid growth of malignant tumors.In the early stages of the disease, it often adheres to surrounding tissues, making it difficult to completely remove through surgery. Even with surgical treatment, the outcomes are generally modest, and recurrence is likely to occur shortly after surgery. Once recurrence occurs, the malignancy of the tumor will continue to increase.For these patients, the prognosis is poor. It is generally recommended to undergo surgical treatment early, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy to potentially extend the patient's lifespan, but it is usually difficult to cure.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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How is neuroblastoma diagnosed?

For patients with neuroblastoma, diagnosis is primarily through the symptoms, signs, detailed physical examinations, medical history inquiries, and most importantly, radiological data, which includes CT scans or MRI of the head. Definitive diagnosis requires surgical removal of the tumor. A small amount of tumor tissue is retained after excision and used for pathological examination to confirm the diagnosis. Neuroblastoma is categorized as an epithelial-like malignant tumor, indicative of a high degree of malignancy. In most cases, early in the disease, the tumor adheres to surrounding tissues, which greatly complicates complete surgical removal, and most patients have a poor prognosis.

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Written by Chen Yu Fei
Neurosurgery
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Neuroblastoma treatment

Neuroblastoma is relatively considered a malignant tumor, and its growth rate is quite rapid. It often adheres to surrounding tissues in the early stages, which makes it very difficult to completely remove surgically. However, even so, it is still advisable to opt for surgical treatment once neuroblastoma is detected. The tumor should be completely removed surgically, and a small amount of tumor tissue should be retained for pathological examination after removal. Based on the results of the pathological examination, it will be determined whether additional treatments such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy are needed. Furthermore, since some neuroblastomas are sensitive to radiotherapy, it is recommended to promptly take the patient to a local hospital for treatment after surgery.