Acquiring An Awareness Of The Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Affliction In Youngsters
At some basic level, we all have an underlying fear of facing cancer in any form, from the identification of abnormal symptoms to the dreaded diagnosis of cancer, and then dealing with cancer treatments. Well, imagine being a mere child and facing the prospect of that same set of steps with Neuroblastoma.
Neuroblastoma stage 4 is a cancer that has spread to the body’s other areas - such as the bones, lymph nodes, bone marrow, liver, skin or potentially other vital organs.
If your child has been diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, keep reading for more information about the disease, survival rates, risk factors, and common treatments.
A Neuroblastoma Overview
Approximately 650 cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed every year in the U.S. It’s the third most common kind of cancer in children and the most frequent form in infants. Approximately 90 percent of all cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed in children aged 6 and under.
About 30% of all neuroblastoma cases begin in the adrenal glands, another 30% start in the ganglia of the abdomen’s sympathetic nervous system, and the majority of the remainder begin in the neck’s sympathetic ganglia, chest or pelvis.
Rates for Five-Year Survival
With most cases of neuroblastoma, the five year survival rate for children under the age of 1 is an impressive 83%. For kids between 1 and 4, it’s 55% and for children 5 and older, only 40%.
However, for children diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, that survival rate drops to 50-80% for children under the age of one and to 15% for older children.
Treatments Used for Stage 4 of Neuroblastoma
Children who are diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma are considered high risk. They are typically subjected to intensive, high-dosage chemotherapy accompanied by surgery and stem cell transplantations. Typically though, surgery is the first step unless the neuroblastoma has spread too far.
In most cases, treatment involves a combination of medications. The main drugs used to treat children with neuroblastoma are cisplatin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, etoposide and topotecan. These drugs produce a positive response in two thirds of children.
In certain cases, particularly when the cancer has spread too far to be completely removed by surgery - as is the case with the fourth stage of neuroblastoma - chemotherapy is the primary treatment.
Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell Transplants
High-intensity chemotherapy can destroy bone marrow completely. Without marrow, new blood cells won’t develop. To solve this problem, children with neuroblastoma are often treated with high-intensity chemotherapy and then must undergo a bone marrow transplantation or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.
Radiation Therapy
Typically, radiation treatments are used as a final attempt to kill any remaining neuroblastoma stage 4 cells after surgery on an affected area.
However, in many instances of late-stage and advanced neuroblastoma, it’s rarely used unless it’s implemented as a pain-management tool or in conjunction with chemotherapy.