Ljubav na djelu

2014-08-21

Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastomas are the third most common malignant disease in children, after leukemia and CNS tumors, the incidence is 8% to 10% of all malignant tumors in children.

Neuroblastomas occur exclusively in children. In 25 percent of patients with symptoms occurring within the first year of life, and in the other 75 percent of cases at the end of the fifth year.

Some signs and symptoms of neuroblastoma, such as fever and anemia, are non-specific, while others are related to the localization of the primary tumor or presence of distant metastases. They manifest abdominal pain, diarrhea, breathing difficulties, pain in the bones of the pelvis, and difficult travel. Other symptoms of neuroblastoma include asymmetric protrusion of the eye bulb and various neurological deficits, such as paraplegia.

The diagnosis of neuroblastoma includes a number of specialized tests. Depending on the location of the tumor, are required examinations of blood, bone marrow biopsy (because of the possible formation of metastases), ultrasound scanning, scintigraphy and CT.

Most patients with this tumor through urine excrete specific substances, so it is necessary for the diagnosis and urine testing. Secure diagnosis by biopsy tissue to give the histopathological diagnosis.

In the treatment of neuroblastoma using surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Also, depending on the widespread use of disease at diagnosis, neuroblastoma can be divided into four stages.

If the tumor is localized (stage I and II) can be removed by surgery. For further spread of neuroblastoma (stage III and IV), additional chemotherapy is used. This can help prevent the spread of localized disease to other organs in the body.

Children younger than 12 months, as well as all children in whom the tumor has not metastasized, have a better chance of healing. In the case of metastatic neuroblastoma, the chances of survival (five-year child) range from 10 to 20 percent. When it comes to localized tumor that has not spread to other parts of the body), the chances for cure amounts to 90 percent.