Neuroblastoma is a type of childhood cancer that develops in infants and young children. Whilst it is a relatively rare form of cancer, it is still responsible for approximately 15 percent of all cancer deaths in children. Researchers have discovered that low-risk and high-risk neuroblastoma have different cell identities, which can affect the survival rate.

Neuroblastoma often starts in the sympathetic nervous system or the adrenal glands. This cancer has a high variability in outcome, ranging from spontaneous regression and complete disappearance to relentless disease progression with very few treatment options.

The child’s age at the time of diagnosis is one of the most important prognostic factors for a favourable outcome. However, the importance of age is a question that has previously been left unanswered.

«In our research we have studied single cell sequencing in healthy adrenal tissues from fetuses, babies and older children, and compared this to tumor tissue from different neuroblastoma risk groups,» says Susanne Schlisio, associate professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet in Solna, and co-corresponding author of the study.

Different cell types with different malignancy potentials

Tumor tissue samples have been collected from children where the age at diagnosis ranged from less than a month to 6,5 years. Approximately 50 percent of the tumors were classified as high-risk and 50 percent as low-risk.

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