Studies on the Biological and Clinical Characteristics of Neuroblastoma(IV) : Evaluations on the survival rate over 2 years and occurrence rate under the interrelation of 9 factors, such as preoperative VMA, age of onset, primary site of tumor and stage-prescribing factors

Abstract

Neuroblastoma originates from the sympathetic ganglions. Therefore, catecholamine and acetylcholine are very important substances for elucidating the origin of the tumor or maturation of tumor cells. In this research we examined the survival rate and the outbread frequency in viewing on preoperative urinary VMA and 9 item sush as the age of initial examination, the site of origin, tissue type etc., basing on the 330 cases of neuroblastoma collected from 11 facilities in Japan. We summarized some new facts on VMA as follows: (1) Under 1 year of age, the survival rate of the group with positive preoperative urinary VMA was higher than that with negative urinary VMA. In the group aged from 11/2 to 4 years, this observation was found to reverse. The incidence of positive preoperative urinary VMA increased by an advance of patients' age. (2) The survival rate in the group with + + and + + + of VMA was higher than in those with negative VMA, and in cases with a lesion in the adrenal gland, the relation was reversal. (3) In cases with metastasis to the lymph nodes, bones, bone marrow and orbital area,the patients with + + to + + + on VMA showed the higher survival rate than those with negative VMA. The incidence of metastasis was higher in the group with + + and + + + of VMA than those with negative VMA. (4) In cases with preoperative ESR value over 60mm in 2 hours, the number of patients with + + and + + + of VMA was greater than that with negative VMA. In cases with the preoperative LDH over 1,500, the result was reversal.