What Are the Symptoms of Neuroblastoma?
If Neuroblastma occurs in the child’s abdomen, it may display the following symptoms:
- Stomach pain and feeling bloated which will eventually lead to weight loss
- Lumps in the belly
- Legs will be swollen
- Swelling in the scrotum
Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a solid cancerous tumour in children that starts outside the brain, in the nerve cells of infants and young children. Though it is often found to start in the nerve tissue of the adrenal glands it can also start in the chest, neck, pelvis, abdomen, or near the spine.
The adrenal glands are on the top of the kidneys and are the producers of hormones to control functions such as the blood pressure and heart rate. In the fetus, neuroblasts are the immature nerve cells that later mature into either nerve cells or adrenal medulla cells. The adrenal medulla cells are the cells that are found in the adrenal gland. When the neuroblasts do not reach maturity properly they grow into a tumour. This can occur even before birth, and in infants and children under the age of 5.
What Are the Treatment Options for Neuroblastoma?
The treatment for neuroblastoma is initiated after taking various factors into consideration such as the stage of cancer, age and location of the tumor. As per these factors, the type of treatment is determined further. Following are the types of treatment that are suggested for neuroblastoma:
Surgery: Surgery is the most common type of treatment in which the tumor is removed from the affected area. It is done in cases where the tumor is diagnosed at an early stage.
Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is done when the disease has reached to an advanced stage usually stage III & IV and the tumor has become risky to be removed via surgery. In this process, various anti-cancer drugs and medicines are injected into the body. Through injection, these drugs flow throughout the bloodstreams, destroying the present cancer cells. Although chemotherapy is effective, but there are side-effects that can be seen during or after the treatment. These side-effects include hair and weight loss, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever and more.
Radiation Therapy: In radiation therapy, high-energy rays or particles are used to kill cancer cells. In most of the cases, radiation therapy becomes quite important. Because of long term SE it is reserved.
