Tandem Transplant for High-Risk Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma, a malignancy of the sympathetic nervous system that arises in cells derived from the neural crest, predominantly affects young children. Although survival rates have improved significantly, neuroblastoma remains challenging due, in part, to its biological and clinical heterogeneity. Subsets of children fare well with minimal therapy, with cure rates of close to 100% for children with specific disease characteristics; however, for high-risk patients the cure rates are  approximately 50%. Current risk stratification systems consider patient age and stage as well as tumor histology and genomic features, permitting delivery of therapy that is based on the likelihood of disease recurrence. Only observation is required for some patients, whereas for other patients , maximally intensive multimodality therapy is necessary.
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research