NeuroBlastoma Awareness

Awareness about childhood cancer research funding.

2013-12-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/12/10/exp-srbashgabriella.cnn.html Please share this link, only 4% of cancer funding goes to childhood cancer research.

2013-03-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have a request to share Team Zaidens page that is on Facebook. Zaiden is 4 years old and has Neuroblastoma https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Zaiden/479236032128700?fref=ts Go like he page and support Team Zaiden!

Hero:TJ

2012-06-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

TJ is 9 months old and was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma on May 1st 2012. He recently did his first cycle of Chemo and will start his 2nd on the 11th of June. Despite his diagnosis he's a normal 9 month old.

Update on Noah Costa

2012-04-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

From Noahs mom: Thank you Lord...we are home! Noah is doing good, his eyesight back 100% without any damage to nerves, etc. Still need to control his blood pressure so he is still on BP medicine...hopefully, prayerfully that changes sooner rather than later! Thank you all for covering him in prayer! XO

Noah Update

2012-04-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

From Noahs Mom Anne: Prayers for Noah please in ICU w/high bp which is causing his vision to be gone...long night of having a siezure, high bp & no vision...praying it comes back...bp gets handled and he is healed...God is the ultimate physician!

Update: Noah

2012-04-04T12:39:00.001-07:00

Noah is in New York for 3f8's this week, please keep him in your prayers as we all know how these are.

What is Neuroblastoma?

2012-03-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

For people who don't know exactly what neuroblastoma is.

First Genomic-based Pediatric Trials Launched in Neuroblastoma

2012-02-08T07:19:00.001-08:00

Last November, Dell announced it was donating an initial $4 million including cloud-computing technology to speed up development of personalized medicine trials for children with neuroblastoma and other pediatric cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 650 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year. It is the second most common tumor in children and the most common cancer in babies less than 1 year old. Although 5-year survival rates for children with low- and intermediate-risk neuroblastoma is higher than 95%, only between 40% and 50% of children with high-risk neuroblastoma survive long-term. The disease is responsible for one in seven pediatric cancer deaths.

To increase survival rates, researchers need the ability to analyze a patient's genomic profile quickly and then determine highly targeted, effective therapies for that patient's tumor type, saidGiselle Sholler, MD, Chair of the Neuroblastoma and Medulloblastoma Translational Research Consortium (NMTRC); Co-director of the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Pediatric Cancer Translational Research Program; and Director of the Haworth Family Pediatric Oncology Innovative Therapeutics Clinic at the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Pilot Study

To accomplish that goal, last spring, Dr. Sholler launched the first genomic-based personalized medicine pediatric cancer trial in neuroblastoma. "The program developed over the past 5 years while we were profiling all of our neuroblastoma patients by isolating the neruoblastoma cells from their bone marrow and noticing that they had very different tumor profiles," says Dr. Sholler.

Dr. Sholler worked withCraig Webb, PhD, Co-director of VARI's Pediatric Cancer Translational Research Program, who developed the computer algorithms to analyze the RNA expression of the tumors of each of the five patients in a pilot study, completed in 2010, and then found drugs that targeted each tumor type. All of the children had relapsed from front-line therapy and had no other therapeutic options.

"The Institutional Review Board wanted us to be able to get the data back in real time because neuroblastoma tumors grow so quickly. Our goal was to be able to do a biopsy of each patient's tumor, analyze the data from the gene-expression profile, generate a report, and then bring together members of our molecular tumor board, which includes researchers, oncologists, pharmacists, bioinformaticians, pathologists, and radiologists. The board would discuss each patient's clinical care so far, the status of the patient, and, based on the report, the list of drugs that target the patient's tumor, so that we could create an individual treatment plan. All of this would be done in less than 2 weeks," said Dr. Sholler.

Larger Trial

A larger 14-patient trial opened last summer at five centers by the NMTRC in collaboration with Intervention Insights-there are 11 clinical trial sites nationwide and 7 more are expected to open this year-and three neuroblastoma patients have enrolled so far. Implementation of Dell's cloud supercomputer, which is 1,200% faster than the current technology in use at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), where the data is stored, will allow Dr. Sholler to not only sequence each patient's RNA expression profile, but his DNA expression profile as well, in less time.

"Sequencing itself takes about 2 weeks, but the analysis that takes time too. Right now, 2 months is the quickest we can get good data to make clinical decisions. The supercomputer will shorten that time to about 2 weeks for RNA sequencing and 1 month for DNA sequencing. We will make clinical decisions based on the RNA sequencing and expression and go through a cycle or two of therapy and then have our second molecular tumor board meeting, when we will have the DNA information as well and we can reassess treatment options," said Dr. Sholler.

Future of Personalized Medicine

"We choose to fund the personalized medicine trials of the NMTRC because neuroblastoma is such a deadly cancer and we wanted to take the cancer and use it as the first model for how we will do this kind of pediatric research going forward," saidJames M. Coffin, PhD, Vice President and General Manager of Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences. "This model of personalized medicine is transferable to every kind of cancer, and we expect to build one of the largest supercomputing platforms in the genomic field."

Analysis of the genomic profiling will be done using software developed by VARI's Pediatric Cancer Translational Research Program and TGen, which Dr. Sholler can then use to create a treatment plan for each patient, using FDA-approved drugs with known pediatric dosing for the specific tumor type. For this study, the FDA has approved the use of a combination of up to four drugs from any drug classification.

"Our goal is to offer these children a good quality of life, and we are not leaning toward the use of high-dose chemotherapies. Instead, we're looking at lower-dose targeted therapies in combination with maybe one or two chemotherapies," said Dr. Sholler.

Although Dr. Sholler's trials are the first attempt in personalized medicine for children with relapsed disease, if successful, genomic-based medicine for pediatric patients with cancer may eventually be used in the front-line setting, where the greatest chance for cure may be possible.

Improving Cure Rates

"Once a child with neuroblastoma has relapsed, there is no curative therapy. We have been able with lower-dose therapies to extend the lives of these children over the past 5 years. If we can understand what's driving the tumors, stop them from growing, and ultimately kill them, that's a cure," Dr. Sholler said.

"I'm hoping that as we validate this type of methodology and bring this to upfront therapy, that's when we're going to see the cure rates change. Right now we treat all the kids with the same high-dose therapy, but only 50% are responding. We're not serving the other 50% very well," she concluded. ■

Source:http://www.ascopost.com/articles/january-15-2012/first-genomic-based-pediatric-trials-launched-in-neuroblastoma/#.TzKO8iIrj-A.facebook

Noah is HAMA positive, please pray!

2012-02-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Noah is HAMA positive, which means he built up resistance to the treatment, please pray!

Novel Cancer Drug Reduces Neuroblastoma Growth By 75 Percent

2011-11-09T07:14:00.001-08:00

ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2009) — Researchers from the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found a new drug that restricts the growth of neuroblastoma, a childhood brain cancer. The pre-clinical study was presented in the plenary session at the 22nd annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

Alejandro Levy, M.D., fellow at the Children's Cancer Hospital at M. D. Anderson, presented research showing for the first time that the M. D. Anderson-developed drug, 3-BrOP, reduces tumor growth by more than 75 percent as a single agent. The study, conducted with human neuroblastoma cells transplanted into mice, showed how 3-BrOP, a glycolysis inhibitor, starved the cancer cells to death by shutting down their main energy source, glucose.

"We found that neuroblastoma cells, unlike healthy cells, are highly dependent on glycolysis for energy instead of more efficient means of energy production," said Levy. "Glycolysis is a process that breaks down sugar for energy, so by blocking that process with 3-BrOP, we are able to keep the tumors from producing energy, and this disrupts their ability to grow."

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 650 children, mainly under the age of five, are diagnosed with neuroblastoma in the United States each year. Close to two-thirds of these children are diagnosed after the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the body. For these patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, long-term survival is less than 40 percent because the tumors are often resistant to traditional chemotherapy.

Pre-clinically, 3-BrOP has already been proven effective against other cancers including glioblastoma, colon cancer, lymphoma and acute leukemia. A Phase I clinical trial is planned to open this year for adult patients.

"As we explore alternative options to standard chemotherapy agents, we are finding drugs, like 3-BrOP, that have the potential to destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed," said Patrick Zweidler-McKay, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor at the Children's Cancer Hospital and senior investigator of the study. "These drugs can often enhance the efficacy of other treatments, potentially leading to more successful combinations and better outcomes for our young patients."

Other investigators on the study were Lauren Akers, D.O., Maurizio Ghisoli, M.D., Timothy Graham, Lizhi Zeng, M.D., Riitta Nolo, M.D., Peter Zage, M.D., Ph.D., Wendy Fang, M.D., Sankaranarayanan Kannan, Ph.D., Anna Franklin, M.D., Peng Huang, M.D., Ph.D., and Patrick Zweidler-McKay, M.D., Ph.D.

Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423180239.htm

Neuroblastoma Awareness: Therapy Reduces Dangerous Side-effects of Cancer Treatment in Children

2011-11-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

Children given a hormone growth factor alongside chemotherapy for the aggressive cancer neuroblastoma are less likely to suffer a potentially deadly side-effect, according to a major international study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology*.

The hormone, called granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF), was already known to boost production of white blood cells. But this Cancer Research UK-funded study is the first large randomised trial to show it can reduce the complications associated with low white blood cell count in children treated for advanced forms of neuroblastoma.

Around 100 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma** every year in the UK, usually under the age of five. Overall six out of ten children are successfully treated, but for children with advanced forms of the cancer it is very difficult to treat successfully.

Children diagnosed with advanced forms of neuroblastoma are given particularly intense treatment that combines surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

But this treatment often carries the side-effect of ‘neutropenia’ - a low white blood cell count. As white blood cells are key components of the immune system, patients who develop neutropenia during treatment are more susceptible to other diseases and complications.

Professor Andy Pearson, lead author of the paper and Cancer Research UK's professor of paediatric oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in Sutton, said: “Patients given GCSF immediately after chemotherapy treatment had fewer problems associated with neutropenia, such as fever, infections, days spent in hospital or on antibiotics and gastrointestinal issues.

“Our team previously identified the high dose chemotherapy regimen that is already saving the lives of many children with high risk neurobastoma, and in this study we report finding a new therapy to reduce side-effects for these patients.

“On the strength of these new trial results, all children receiving intense chemotherapy to treat high-risk neuroblastoma will now be given GCSF.”

The work builds on promising results from an earlier study, also funded by Cancer Research UK and led by Professor Pearson at the ICR , which found that giving doses of five chemotherapy drugs – cisplatin, vincristine, carboplatin, etoposide, and cyclophosphamide – more frequently offered the best hope of a cure.

This therapy is now being taken forward as the treatment for children in Europe through the International Society of Paediatric Oncology, Europe Neuroblastoma Group (SIOPEN)***.

Kate Law, Cancer Research UK's director of clinical trials, said: "The results of this promising trial mean that children across Europe diagnosed with neuroblastoma will receive a more effective treatment for this disease.

“Cancer Research UK is the largest single funder of children’s cancer research in the country and is at the heart of an international research effort leading to rapid improvements in children surviving cancer with the fewest possible side effects.”

Notes:

*Ladenstein et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology (2010), Randomised trial of prophylactic granulocyte colony stimulating factor during rapid COJEC induction in paediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma: the European HR-NBL1/SIOPEN study.

** Neuroblastoma is a form of childhood cancer which starts in the child's developing nerves and often appears as a tumour in the abdomen, adrenal glands or the nerve tissue at the back of the abdomen. About one hundred children are diagnosed in the UK each year, mostly before the age of five, and the high-risk form of the disease is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in children.

*** The SIOPEN Group led by Dr Ruth Ladenstein at St Anna Children’s Hospital in Vienna, Austria and Professor Pearson at the ICR carried out a Cancer Research UK-funded trial in 16 European countries that assessed the clinical benefit of prophylactic GCSF use. The scientists monitored side-effects of rapid, intense chemotherapy in 119 patients who were routinely given GCSF with 120 patients who were only given GCSF if a severe infection developed.

Source: http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=9316

Neuroblastoma Awareness: Kids with cancer get innovative treatments at new clinic funded by gift to DeVos Children's Hospital

2011-11-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

GRAND RAPIDS -- For 8-year-old Ryan Regan, the checkup at the cancer clinic at DeVos Children's Hospital was fun and games.

He laughed when the doctor tickled his belly, showed off a photo of himself in a Superman costume and wandered down the hall to play with friends.

His mother, Cathy Regan, was amazed at how far he had come since he began treatment for neuroblastoma at a pediatric cancer clinic at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.

"It's a little miracle," said Regan, who lives in Macomb Township in Southeast Michigan.

A grant announced today (Thursday) will provide funding that will allow the clinic to treat more children like Ryan.

The donation of an undisclosed amount of money from Dick and Ethie Haworth establishes the Haworth Family Pediatric Oncology Innovative Therapeutics Clinic, which uses a personalized medicine approach to treating neuroblastoma and other childhood cancers. The director of the clinic, Dr. Giselle Sholler, is also a researcher at Van Andel Institute.

Through the clinic and the institute, the genetic makeup of tumors is analyzed in an effort to determine the best medications to block the cancer. Doctors and researchers in an 11-hospital research consortium are involved in analyzing the test results and choosing the treatment.

Regan said she brought Ryan to the DeVos Children's clinic after doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York said they had no more treatment options for him.

Based on the analysis of Ryan's tumor, which formed in his belly and has spread to his liver, Sholler began treating him with three chemotherapy drugs in mid-September. At that point, Ryan weighed only 36 pounds.

"He couldn't walk," his mother said. "He was vomiting. You couldn't pick him up, his liver was so distended. He was on pain meds around the clock."

Ryan's condition improved after the first treatment. In six weeks, he has gained eight pounds -- and lots of energy. One of the goals of the clinic is to use medications with few side effects, so the children can have good quality of life, Sholler said.

That benefit is much appreciated by Regan. Her son has battled cancer for nearly half his life. At 21 months, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a tumor of the peripheral nervous system that typically strikes children 6 and under. The cancer went into remission six months later, but resurfaced when Ryan was 5.

At times, he was treated with high doses of chemotherapy that required three weeks in the hospital for recovery., Regan said.

"We have to drive here, but it's worth it," she said. "His quality of life is awesome."

The clinic is attracting patients from throughout the country and Canada, said Dr. James Fahner, head of pediatric oncology at the hospital. Six children have been treated so far and, eventually, Fahner expects a half-dozen children a week at the clinic.

The clinic's initial focus is on children whose disease has nor responded to therapy, whose cancer has recurred and those whose cancer is so high-risk at diagnosis that standard treatments are not likely to work.

The Haworths said in a statement they made the donation because they believe in the work of the children's cancer program.

"We want to be an encouragement to Dr. Sholler in advancing the science and we look forward to learning about the results of this new initiative," Dick Haworth said.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/11/kids_with_cancer_get_innovativ.html

Neuroblastoma Awareness: Hero: Baby Aerabella

2011-10-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hi, My name is Danica. My daughter, Aerabella was diagnosed on Sept 22nd
2011 at 9 months old with stage 2A Neuroblastoma. She has a large tumor in
her chest that was found due to an odd cough. Her family doctor insisted a
chest x-ray be done at the Akron Children's Hosptial. We thought she may
have eaten something and had it lodged. Imagine our shock when we were shown
an x-ray with a mass approx 5cm*3cm*2cm in her chest. She was admitted to
the oncology floor later that night. We spent 13 long days and nights at the
hospital while numerous tests and procedures were completed. Bella had her
port placed Sept 23rd and started Chemo that night. She has three more
cycles of Chemo to go. Then hopefully surgery to remove the remaining tumor.
We were very lucky to have caught this early and her prognosis is very good.
She has been doing quite well, the chemo seems to have given her more energy
and made her hyper. She is at the stage where she loves getting
into everything and exploring new things.She has her own facebook page and
has added neuroblastoma awareness in hopes to make her friends all aware of
this horrible cancer. Her address is facebook.com/babyaerabella

Neuroblastoma Awareness: ALK gene discovered by St. Jude scientists associated with FDA approved adult cancer drug

2011-10-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

A drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of an adult cancer targets a malfunctioning gene discovered more than a decade earlier at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The story highlights how scientific findings from St. Jude can be translated into therapies and tests that in addition to helping children, also help adults.

The drug is Xalkori (crizotinib). The FDA approved Xalkori in August as the first targeted therapy for patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is locally advanced or metastatic. Xalkori is manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

The ALK gene was discovered by St. Jude scientists searching for genes affected by a chromosomal change common in the cancer cells of patients with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL).The blood cancer accounts for 10 to 30 percent of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In 1994 Stephan Morris, M.D., then a St. Jude junior faculty member; Thomas Look, M.D., then chair of a St. Jude department; and their colleagues, published the first of several reports detailing the discovery of ALK and the gene's pivotal role in driving the cancer. ALK is short for anaplastic lymphoma kinase, the name investigators gave the protein whose assembly instructions the gene carried.

ALK is now widely recognized as a potent promoter of several adult and childhood cancers, including ALCL and neuroblastoma, a childhood tumor of certain nerve cells. The work done by Morris, Look and their colleagues in a fifth-floor laboratory of the Danny Thomas Research Center eventually helped to launch a new targeted cancer treatment.

Hiroyuki Mano, M.D., of the University of Tokyo, led the 2007 research into the molecular drivers of NSCLC. The study showed some NSCLC tumors were driven by an ALK rearrangement. Following this discovery, Pfizer expanded a Phase I clinical trial of Xalkori to include patients with ALK-positive advanced NSCLC. Xalkori blocks the cancer-causing activity of the ALK protein. Additional clinical trials with the drug are now underway in other cancers, including neuroblastoma and ALCL, the lymphoma that launched the search.

The ALK discovery and related later research led to five U.S. patents for St. Jude. The patented work includes methods for detecting the chromosomal rearrangements that unleash the cancer-causing ability of the ALK gene as well as tools to identify and characterize drugs for cancers caused by ALK deregulation. Morris, Look and their colleagues also worked with another pharmaceutical company to design a diagnostic assay to identify patients with the ALK mutation. The test, a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay, has been marketed for more than a decade. In August, it won FDA approval as a diagnostic test for use with Xalkori.

Dr. William E. Evans, St. Jude director and chief executive officer, said the ALK story captures an important aspect of the hospital's commitment. "Our focus is on finding cures for pediatric diseases, but our discoveries often provide insights that can be building blocks for advances in other diseases, including adult cancers. We are committed to facilitating this so that the most good can come from our discoveries," he said.

Working through the St. Jude Office of Technology Licensing, Pfizer obtained licenses to the hospital's patented research tools. Several other companies have executed licenses with St. Jude to use these patent rights.

This year about 210,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. Current estimates are that approximately 3 to 5 percent, or 6,500 to 11,000 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, carry the ALK rearrangement and may be candidates for treatment with Xalkori.

Today, Morris is a member of the St. Jude Pathology and Oncology departments. Look is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston. Morris is still asking questions about ALK, including the protein's normal functions. He said he is thrilled that his work offers new hope for thousands of lung cancer patients. "We knew in 1994 when we initially discovered ALK that it was an outstanding drug-development target," Morris said. "It is heartening to now see patients benefiting from our research."

Source St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Source: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110930/ALK-gene-discovered-by-St-Jude-scientists-associated-with-FDA-approved-adult-cancer-drug.aspx

Progesterone could fight against neuroblastoma

2011-09-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

High doses of the hormone progesterone can kill neuroblastoma cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found in laboratory research.

The results, published in the journal Molecular Medicine, suggest that progesterone could be used to fight neuroblastoma, the most common form of cancer affecting small children.

More research is necessary to determine the optimal dose, how long progesterone treatment should last and if it should be used alone or in combination with radiation or chemotherapy. Emory scientists are also exploring whether it can stop the growth of other brain cancer types such as glioblastoma and astrocytoma. Progesterone has also been reported to slow growth of several other types of cancers in the laboratory, but has not been used clinically against neuroblastoma.

The first author in the team of researchers is Fahim Atif, PhD, instructor in emergency medicine, with senior author Donald G. Stein, PhD, Asa G. Candler professor of emergency medicine and director of Emory's Department of Emergency Medicine Brain Research Laboratory. Daniel Brat, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in Emory School of Medicine was a collaborator on the research team.

The discovery grew out of studies of progesterone's protective effects in brain injury. Based on Stein's pioneering work, medical centers across the country are now testing progesterone in the setting of acute traumatic brain injury in a phase III clinical trial. While investigating how to enhance progesterone's effectiveness, Atif and his colleagues observed that it could protect healthy neurons from stress but caused cells from a tumor cell line to die.

In a mouse model, progesterone treatment cut tumor growth in half over eight days, while no drug toxicity was seen with healthy neurons or in live animals. The researchers showed that progesterone can decrease the levels of proteins produced by tumor cells that attract new blood vessel growth and help tumor cells invade other tissues.

"This fits with what we know about one of progesterone's roles during pregnancy, which is to regulate the growth of placenta," Atif says. "Placental cells behave in a way that resembles tumor cells, invading the uterine wall and tapping into the mother's blood vessels."

In studies performed elsewhere, doses of progesterone that were lower than the most effective dose in the Emory study actually accelerated cancer growth. Based on their results, the Emory researchers propose that for fighting certain types of cancer, high doses of progesterone may be better than low doses.

Progesterone's effects on cancer are known to be complex. There may be differences between progesterone, the natural hormone, and synthetic progestins. The National Institutes of Health's Women's Health Initiative study showed that women who received hormone replacement therapy with combined estrogen and progestins had an increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer, although some studies have identified a potential "safe period" if hormone replacement therapy lasts less than two years.

Progesterone has a long history as a treatment designed to prevent preterm birth. If progesterone is to be used with small children, any potential effects on development must be weighed against the risks of standard treatments.

Source: Emory University

Source:http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110714/Progesterone-could-fight-against-neuroblastoma.aspx?page=2

News:MYCN amplification can serve as a favorable prognostic indicator for neuroblastoma

2011-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

source:http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110812/MYCN-amplification-can-serve-as-a-favorable-prognostic-indicNeuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that primarily affects infants and young children, is a leading cause of death for children with cancer. When amplification of the MYCN oncogene is found in the tumor, it usually indicates an aggressive tumor with rapid progression of the disease and a poor outcome. Thus MYCN amplification has come to be used as a prognostic indicator.

However, sometimes a favorable outcome can be achieved even if MYCN amplification is present. A study reported in the current issue of the journal Pediatric and Developmental Pathology focuses on four such cases.

Four patients were diagnosed with neuroblastoma between the ages of 6 and 13 months and were treated with high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell rescue. Three of the patients are alive and well, having survived from 19 months to 7 years following treatment. One patient, with stage 4 disease, died eight months after being diagnosed.

Although MYCN amplification was confirmed in all four patients, it was not expressed in some of the common ways. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to identify the gene amplification in these cases. MYCN protein expression was not detected through immunohistochemistry.

Tumors with MYCN amplification typically have an undifferentiated or poorly differentiated subtype with a high mitosis-karyorrhexis index. Large cell type and presence of prominent nucleoli also characterize MYCN amplification and indicate aggressive behavior of the tumor. In the four cases examined in this study, the tumors all showed a poorly differentiated subtype and a low mitosis-karyorrhexis index. They also did not qualify as a large cell type and lacked prominent nucleoli.

These cases display a unique combination of unfavorable and favorable prognostic indicators for neuroblastoma. The authors speculate that a lack of excess MYCN protein expression despite gene amplification could cause this rare genotype-phenotype discordance. The findings could indicate that MYCN amplification does not automatically mean a poor prognosis.ator-for-neuroblastoma.aspx

Hero:Linas Modestas Zibas

2011-09-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

our 4 years son Linas Modestas Zibas still fighting with high risk Neuroblastoma stage 4

Angel: Sierra Rayn Chamblee

2011-09-13T19:00:00.001-07:00

Sierra Rayn Chamblee. Diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma at 21 months old, battled for 11 months, lost the fight at 2 1/2 years old.

May God bless this family in this time of sorrow.

Hero: Noahs Story

2011-09-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

Our world turned upside down on December 18, 2007. Noah was having spuratic side pain so we took him to the pediatrician and they said he had intestinal flu and if the pain continues bring him back, well the pain continued and he was then diagnosed with intussusception. He underwent a barium enama only to find a 4" tumor sitting above his right kidney. This tumor turned out to be Neuroblastoma cancer, which sprouted out of the right adrenal gland. His was diagnosed at stage 2b.
He underwent four rounds of low-dose chemo and had the tumor removed on April 7, 2008. It wasn't 100% removed and our home Oncologist reassured us that with Noah's histology and biology it wouldn't come back.
Noah had reoccurance on October 5, 2008. We are now in treatment with Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. He had 3 high-dose rounds of chemo, radiation & surgery. Noah was NED (no evidence of disease) for 15 months and then relapsed in April of 2010. He endured 3 rounds of chemo and after scans in June 2010 he is again NED and is now getting 3f8 Monoclonal Antibodies every 8 weeks. Please continue to pray for our little boy. Read the updates for the current information on Noahs journey. Our greatest praise goes to God our Father who gives us the comfort, peace and strength through Noah's healing. We also have such a tremedous support group and wonderful prayer warriors who have gotten us through these tough times.

Heroes and Angels

2011-09-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

If there are any parents of children out there who are still battling this disease or have beat it, that would like to be featured as a hero on the site. Also any parents of children who have lost the battle to this horrid disease, who would like their child to be featured as a angel on the site.

Caitlyn- Still Fighting

2011-09-12T13:24:00.001-07:00

Caitlyn. Diagnosed at age 5 months, stage IV, high risk. Current age - 19 months. AND STILL FIGHTING.

Hereo- Still Fighting Wes

2011-09-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Wes is a 5 year old little boy who was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma on June 24, 2011. As of 8/19/11 he had just completed his third cycle of chemotherapy. He still will have to undergo a total of 4 more rounds of chemotherapy, surgery if possible, stem cell re-infusion, 20 rounds of radiation and anti-body treatment.

Omega-3 Possible weapon against tumors in children

2011-08-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

In a newly published study, Swedish and American scientists show how the Omega-3 fatty acid DHA can serve as both sword and shield in the fight against certain forms of cancer. The new findings on the mechanisms behind this two-sided effect give hope of one day using DHA as a complement to cytostatics in the treatment of children with neural cancer.

Neural cancer (neuroblastoma) in young children is the most common solid tumour form in this age group. The prognosis is very poor and some 40 per cent of patients die of the disease. However, it is known that fatty acids can protect healthy nerve cells from dying, and at the same time kill several types of cancer cells. In the current study, the scientists were interested in exploring what happens to DHA, an Omega-3 fatty acid found mainly in oily fish (e.g. salmon and mackerel), inside the cancer cell.

Using an advanced method called liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry, the researchers looked at the products that were formed on the breakdown of DHA and which of them have a lethal effect on the cancer cell. They also tried to identify the enzymes involved in the breakdown process.

"We observed that DHA forms hydroperoxy fatty acids and hydroxy fatty acids inside the cancer cell," says Helena Gleissman, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and the study´s principal author. "These fatty acids are oxidised through the agency of enzymes called 5- and 15-lipoxygenase, but they can also be oxidised spontaneously. Hydroperoxy fatty acids are particularly involved in apoptosis."

DHA can be converted into these cell-killing oxidised fatty acids in healthy neurons, but they are then converted further into substances called resolvins and protectins, thus avoiding the accumulation of cytolethal oxidised fatty acids in the cell. Protectins are particularly effective at protecting nerve cells from dying, which from a future treatment perspective makes it especially interesting that neither resolvins nor protectins are formed in neuroblastoma cells.

"While DHA kills cancer cells in the nervous system via hydroperoxy fatty acids, it protects healthy nerve cells from dying via protectins," says Dr Gleissman. "If we can find a way of controlling this process, there is a good chance that DHA can serve as both sword and shield in neuroblastoma patients and act as a complement to cytostatic therapy."

The study was based on a collaboration between Professor Per Kogner´s research group at Karolinska Institutet and Professor Charles N Serhan´s group at Harvard Medical School. The researchers will now be looking into how DHA can be applied most effectively in the treatment of cancer. The research was funded by the Swedish Children´s Cancer Foundation, Swedish Research Council, Swedish Cancer Society, Erik and Edith Fernström´s Foundation for Medical Research, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and NIH.

Source: http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=8419

Facts about Neuroblastoma

2011-08-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Facts about Neuroblastoma
􀁸 There are approximately 12,500 children suffering from some form of pediatric cancer.
􀁸 Neuroblastoma is an extremely rare childhood cancer, affecting 10 children in every million, usually
before the age of 5.
􀁸 In the U.S., approximately 650 new cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed each year.
􀁸 Originating from neural crest cells called neuroblasts in the sympathetic nervous system where nervous
system tissue is present, neuroblastoma is a solid tumor cancer most commonly found near the adrenal
glands (located on top of the kidneys and in the chest).
􀁸 The term neuro indicates "nerves," while blastoma refers to a cancer that affects immature or
developing cells.
􀁸 The cause of neuroblastoma is unknown. Studies have shown that genetics and environmental factors
are not involved.
􀁸 40 percent of neuroblastoma patients are younger than 1 year when diagnosed, 35 percent are aged 1-2
years, and 25 percent are older than 2 years when diagnosed.
􀁸 In 70-80 percent of patients with neuroblastoma, the disease is not diagnosed until it has already
metastasized (spread) to lymph nodes, liver, bone, bone marrow and/or skin. These cases are
categorized as stage IV and have a less than 40 percent chance of surviving long-term, classified as
more than three years. Less than half of these patients survive. i
􀁸 No drugs or treatments are available today designed to specifically treat neuroblastoma.
Treatment often requires a combination of surgery, chemotherapy drugs designed for different types of
adult cancers, bone marrow transplants and radiation therapy.
􀁸 The five-year survival rate for high-risk cases of neuroblastoma is less than 40 percent. ii
􀁸 There is a zero percent chance of survival for patients who relapse.
􀁸 Males have a slightly higher incidence of neuroblastoma than females. More than 40 percent of fully
insured families with a child with neuroblastoma declare bankruptcy due to the high costs of treatment,
often considered to be experimental.
ii

Who gets Neuroblastoma?

2011-08-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Neuroblastoma is almost always found in children.

Nearly 90% of the cases of Neuroblastoma are diagnosed before the age of 6.

Of all childhood cancers, Neuroblastoma accounts for approximately 7% of the cases diagnosed.

The Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Society reports that 500 to 1,000 children are diagnosed each year in the United States.

ySlightl more cases of Neuroblastoma are seen in boys than in girls.