Stage 1 Neurostoma Stage 2 Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is one of the third most common of childhood cancers. There are about six hundred and fifty cases a year in the United States or about six percent of childhood cancers. It often is diagnosed in infancy and rarely in children who have reached the age of ten. Neuroblastoma is an adrenal cancer that most often develops in the adrenal glands atop of the kidneys of a fetus or in infants. Neuroblastoma can also develop anywhere along the sympathetic nervous system chain from the neck to the pelvis. The sympathetic nervous system controls heartbeat, blood pressure and reactions to stress. However, these tumors can begin in any part of the body. The chest, neck, pelvis and spinal cord are other common places for them. Cancerous cells

Stage 1 neuroblastoma applies to children who have a tumor in only one place. Surgeons can remove all of it that they can see. Stage 2 neuroblastoma is divided into 2A and 2B. 2A applies to children who have a tumor in only one place. Surgeons cannot remove all of it that they can see. 2B applies to children who have a tumor in only one place and cancer cells in nearby lymph nodes. Doctors may or may not be able to remove all of the tumor.

Stage 3 neuroblastoma applies to children who have any one of these. A tumor that doctors cannot remove all the way. The tumor has spread to the other side of the body and maybe to nearby lymph nodes. A tumor that doctors cannot remove all the way and that is in the middle of the body. It has spread to both sides of the body (in lymph nodes or other structures). A tumor in one place on one side of the body. Cancer also is found in lymph nodes on the other side of the

Children with high-risk neuroblastoma may receive radiation therapy after chemotherapy and surgery, to prevent cancer from recurring. Radiation therapy primarily affects the area where it's aimed, but some healthy cells may be damaged by the radiation. What side effects your child experiences depends on where the radiation is directed and how much radiation is administered.

Children with high-risk neuroblastoma may receive a transplant using their own blood stem cells (autologous stem cell transplant). Before the stem cell transplant, your child undergoes a procedure that filters and collects stem cells from his or her blood. The stems cells are stored for later use. Then high doses of chemotherapy are used to kill any remaining cancer cells in your child's body. Your child's stem cells are then injected into your child's body, where they can form new, healthy blood cells.

Immunotherapy uses drugs that work by signaling your body's immune system to help fight cancer cells. Children with high-risk neuroblastoma may receive immunotherapy drugs that stimulate the immune system to kill the neuroblastoma