Pathology and Advancing Technologies Referring to Neuroblastoma

Abstract

The uncontrolled division is what we know as cancer. Cancer, as we know, can grow anywhere and everywhere within the body, and impair the function of organs, nerves, and muscles. Neuroblastomas are a rare, solid, very specific type of cancer that targets sympathetic nervous system nerve cells. Neuroblastomas develop within immature nerve cells known as neuroblasts. Neuroblastomas can begin impairing the sympathetic nervous system of children as young as in the embryonic stage. Neuroblastomas can be linked to abnormalities of genes, but that is not always the cause of the cancer. Out of every 100,000 cancer patients, 548.9 are between 40 and 64, 77.4 are between 15 and 39, and only 17.8 are younger than 15.  Neuroblastomas are rare because this cancer usually affects children five years of age or below.