Neuroblastoma News and Research

Latest Neuroblastoma News and Research

Current status of neuroblastoma treatment and trends for the near future

Childhood cancers are fortunately rare, but among them, neuroblastoma is a special case, accounting for 7 percent of all childhood cancers, but 15 percent of childhood cancer deaths.

23 Jun 2007

Gene test not needed if cancer drug irinotecan given in low dose

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have shown that when the cancer drug irinotecan is given in low doses for multiple days, it eliminates the need to delay treatment to perform costly genetic testing that determines if the patient is at risk for serious treatment side effects, such as neutropenia.

20 Jun 2007

Three proteins could be new targets for treating stroke, brain and spinal cord injuries

Some mature brain cells can grow new extensions when the amount of three particular proteins on their surface increases, a new study shows.

12 Apr 2007

Researchers use poliovirus to destroy neuroblastoma tumors in mice

The cause of one notorious childhood disease, poliovirus, could be used to treat the ongoing threat of another childhood disease, neuroblastoma.

15 Mar 2007

Common painkiller helps against child cancer

Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that develops in the nervous system and it affects small children more commonly than any other tumour type.

5 Feb 2007

New type of buckyball

Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new type of buckyball nanoparticle that acts as a passkey, allowing peptide-based drugs to enter cancer cells.

29 Jan 2007

Dual-mode nanoparticle probes for high-performance magnetic resonance and fluorescence imaging of neuroblastoma

Nanoscale, inorganic fluorescent imaging agents such as quantum dots have become an important tool for researchers studying key biomolecules involved in cancer.

18 Dec 2006

Compounds in blackcurrants could prevent Alzheimer's disease

Compounds in blackcurrants could prevent Alzheimer's disease and the characteristics of British berries suggest they do it best, writes Jennifer Rohn in Chemistry & Industry magazine.

18 Jan 2006

Caspase 8 gene halts spread of aggressive childhood cancer

A team of cancer researchers has shown that a gene commonly lost during neuroblastoma tumor formation, one of the most aggressive cancers in babies and children, is in fact a "metastasis suppressor" gene.

6 Jan 2006

Children could be saved from neuroblastoma using antibody therapy

Combination of T cell, antibody to neuroblastoma cells and molecule that spurs T cell growth is designed to treat low initial tumor levels or small cancer cell populations that survive initial treatment, according to St. Jude.

22 Dec 2005

Loss of genes on chromosome 1 or 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma

A new study reports that a loss of genes on chromosome 1 or chromosome 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma, even when other indicators seem to point to a lower-risk form of the disease.

28 Nov 2005

Children who survive cancer face educational difficulties and social isolation

A new study finds children who survive cancer have about twice the rate of educational and social problems compared to children without a history of cancer.

12 Sep 2005

Developmental culling and cancer

A new study reveals that a diverse group of apparently unrelated genes that are associated with pheochromocytoma intersect at a common pathway that drives the necessary culling of cells.

16 Aug 2005

Customized gene chip offers clues to prognosis in cases of neuroblastoma

Rather than covering the entire genome, the microarray focuses on suspect regions of chromosomes for signs of deleted genetic material known to play a role in the cancer.

2 Aug 2005

By not implementing a neuroblastoma screening program the United States and Canada saved $574.1 million in health costs

By not implementing a neuroblastoma screening program between 1989 and 2002, the United States and Canada saved $574.1 million in health costs, avoided the unnecessary treatment of more than 9,200 children, and avoided false-positive findings in more than 5,000 children, according to a new study in the August 3 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

2 Aug 2005

Customized gene chip will offer clues to prognosis in cases of neuroblastoma

Genetics researchers have developed a customized gene chip to rapidly scan tumor samples for specific DNA changes that offer clues to prognosis in cases of neuroblastoma, a common form of children's cancer.

2 Aug 2005

$4.7million grant for research on neuroblastoma

Significant funding from Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council will enable researchers at Children’s Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA) for Medical Research to make progress on the treatment of one the most aggressive, drug-resistant childhood cancers - neuroblastoma - over the next five years.

28 Jul 2005

Percutaneous core-needle biopsy, provides samples of tissue suitable for accurate initial diagnosis of a solid tumor

Inserting biopsy needles through the skin appears to be a safe and reliable alternative to surgery for obtaining diagnostic samples of a suspected solid tumor in children, according to results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

25 Jul 2005

Fine tuning drug levels in neuroblastoma patients is effective

Monitoring and fine tuning the levels of the cancer drug topotecan in children with neuroblastoma holds promise for maximizing the drug's effectiveness while reducing its toxicity, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

19 Jun 2005