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Cancer Information Tips :: Neuroblastoma Prognosis
Neuroblastoma Prognosis: The Average Prognosis for Patients Diagnosed with Neuroblastoma
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For parents, receiving a neuroblastoma prognosis for their child can be difficult - they often must make hard decisions, choose a potential course of treatment or come to terms with a potentially hard diagnosis.
Admittedly, the prognosis for most neuroblastoma cases is not good, but can vary depending on the patient's health, age and biologic factors. To learn more about neuroblastoma prognosis, keep reading.
Average Prognosis for Patients with Neuroblastoma
Because neuroblastoma often goes undiagnosed until the cancer has become metastatic - meaning it has spread to other parts of the body - almost 70% of patients are not diagnosed until they are at an advanced stage.
In general, a patient's prognosis will depend on their age at the time of diagnosis, the clinical stage of the neuroblastoma and whether the disease has spread to nearby lymph nodes.
Age and Prognosis
Children with a localized neuroblastoma, that is the disease has not spread, or infants younger than a year old, typically have strong chances for long-term survival and a disease-free life.
However, children older than one year who have been diagnosed with advanced stage neuroblastoma have a significantly decreased chance for a full recovery. With aggressive chemotherapy and stem cell treatments still only produce a survival rate of approximately 30% of patients.
For adolescents, the diagnosis and prognosis with neuroblastoma is often similar to younger children. However, there is a greater risk of the disease spreading to areas such as the brain or lungs.
Neuroblastoma in adults and adolescents also typically comes with a worse prognosis and requires a longer course of chemotherapy treatments. High dose chemotherapy can help control the disease, while local radiation therapy can also help improve the prognosis.
Biology and Biologic Factors
Many treatment decisions for children with neuroblastoma are often based on a variety of biologic factors such as the classification, chromosome number of the tumor cells and certain aspects of the tumor tissue. To help determine these factors, a biopsy is often necessary to obtain tissue samples.
Prognosis for Recurrence
High-risk cases will often see a recurrence of the disease. Many survivors of neuroblastoma finish their treatments with a long-term prognosis for the possibility of recurrence. Many survivors also experience long-term effects caused by their treatment courses.
These long-term effects include possible hearing loss, thyroid function problems, growth reduction, learning problems and an increased risk for secondary cancers to develop later in life. Approximately, two thirds of neuroblastoma survivors will develop some form of cancer or health problem within 20 to 30 years after their original diagnosis.
While the long-term neuroblastoma prognosis is not always bright, parents and children must remember that research is ongoing and new treatments are being developed. Survival and long-term health is possible.
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CancerInfoTips.com :: Neuroblastoma Prognosis