Surgical Advances in Paediatric Neuroblastoma

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue’s primary focus is on the diagnosis, management, and surgical treatments of patients with neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial solid tumor in children.

It counts for up to 8–10% of all childhood malignancies and approximately 15% of all cancer-related deaths in the pediatric population.  

With at least one-third of patients presenting with metastases at diagnosis, NB represents one of the most challenging diseases for pediatric oncologists and surgeons. In fact, despite the development of new treatment options, the prognosis of high-risk NB patients remains poor with long-term survival of less than 50%. 

In literature, several reports and metanalyses highlight the importance of an appropriate diagnosis and more aggressive surgical resections to improve local tumor control and survival outcomes in children with both localized and metastatic NBs.

However, performing a radical tumor resection in NB is particularly challenging for the surgeon; this is because NB tumors grow into the deepest part of the abdominal and/or thoracic cavities and envelop the main vessels and nerves in the body, and they develop tight adhesions to the organs (kidneys, liver, pancreas, etc.). 

Therefore, novel approaches that could assist surgeons to perform a complete tumor excision and to easily identify malignant cells versus normal anatomical structures or necrotic/scar tissues are desperately needed in pediatric surgery.

For this reason, it is important to highlight current managements and surgical approaches for neuroblastoma treatment in order to support clinicians and surgeons in performing a correct diagnosis that will allow the implementation of appropriate treatment strategies.

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• Neuroblastoma 
• Neurocristopathy 
• Pediatric oncology 
• Surgery 
• Surgical approaches 
• Immunotherapy 
• MYCN