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Neuroblastoma
is a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system that is diagnosed in approximately
50 children in Canada each year, and 650 children in the Unites States.
It represents between 8-10% of all childhood cancers but is responsible
for a disproportionate number of cancer-related deaths.
The
prognosis for neuroblastoma patients depends upon the age of the child at
diagnosis and the stage of the disease-the younger the child, the better
the chance for cure. Over the last 20 years, there has been modest improvement,
due to research, in the prognosis of children diagnosed before the age of
one. There has been little improvement, however, for older children with
widespread disease at the time of diagnosis. Unfortunately, for children
over 14 months with widespread disease, the 5 year survival rate is only
20-25%.
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