According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 650 new diagnoses of neuroblastoma are made each year in the United States. This is the most common cancer in children under a year old, and makes up 7 percent of all childhood cancers. Neuroblastoma starts in certain kinds of early, primitive nerve cells that are found in an embryo or fetus. Treatment options for neuroblastoma will depend on the child's age and the stage of the cancer, and there is usually more than one treatment used to help treat neuroblastoma.
Surgery
According to the American Cancer Society, once a diagnosis of neuroblastoma is made, surgery is often done to try and remove as much tumor as possible. In some cases, the entire tumor may be removed, and this can be curative. If surgery alone is not enough to remove the entire tumor, other forms of treatment may be used in conjunction with surgery. If the tumor is extremely large, sometimes chemotherapy will be administered before surgery in order to shrink the tumor so that it can be removed more easily.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses medications to kill cancer cells, and for neuroblastoma, these medications are typically given intravenously. These drugs can enter the bloodstream and kill cancer cells throughout the body, which is important if the cancer has spread to other places like the lymph nodes. Typically, more than one chemotherapy drug is used, and common medications for neuroblastoma include cisplatin or carboplatin, vincristine, doxorubicin and topotecan.
Retinoid Therapy and Immunotherapy
Retinoids are a fairly new treatment for neuroblastoma, and are chemicals related to vitamin A. While it is not known exactly how they work, it is hypothesized that they help some cancer cells turn into healthy ones. Retinoid therapy can be used in treating children with high-risk neuroblastoma, and treatment with retinoids can help prevent recurrence after high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. As of 2009, this treatment is still being refined.
Immunotherapy is commonly used in children with high-risk neuroblastoma after a stem cell transplant in helping the immune system attack neuroblastoma cells. A drug called ch14.18 is typically combined with other immunotherapy drugs to help boost the immune system in killing cancer cells.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells, but it is rarely used in treating children because of possible long-term effects like interfering with normal tissue growth and possibly increasing the risk of other cancers. Radiation is typically aimed at the tumor, but sometimes other parts of the body are targeted because of the risk of the cancer spreading to other areas.
