neuroblastoma
Meaning of neuroblastoma: Neuroblastoma is a cancer of immature nerve cells that develops mainly in infants and young children, often starting near the adrenal gland.
Definition of neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that arises from immature nerve cells called neuroblasts, which normally develop into part of the sympathetic nervous system, the branch of the nervous system involved in the body's automatic stress response. Neuroblastoma most often affects infants and young children, and it is one of the more common cancers diagnosed in early childhood.
Neuroblastoma most frequently begins in the adrenal gland, since neuroblasts are abundant there during early development, though it can also arise along the chain of nerve tissue running near the spine in the chest, abdomen, or pelvis. Because the sympathetic nervous system extends throughout much of the body, neuroblastoma can develop in multiple possible locations and can already have spread to other sites, such as bone or bone marrow, by the time it is diagnosed.
Neuroblastoma behaves quite differently from one child to another, ranging from tumors that can shrink or mature on their own without treatment to more aggressive disease requiring extensive treatment, a variability that is taken into account when the disease is evaluated.
Used in a sentence
Imaging identified a neuroblastoma arising from the adrenal gland in the infant.
Good to know
Neuroblastoma behaves unusually inconsistently among childhood cancers, since some tumors can mature or regress without treatment while others behave aggressively, a variability considered when the disease is evaluated.
Word origin
Where “neuroblastoma” comes from
Formed from Greek neuron, meaning nerve, and blastos, meaning germ or bud, referring to an immature cell, combined with the suffix -oma, meaning tumor.