Abstract
A mass screening system of neuroblastoma by means of a vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) in 6-month-old infants has now became common in almost all areas of Japan. Nagoya city started this system in 1977 (the 2nd earliest in Japan), and Aichi prefecture in 1981. By March 1986, 231,971 infants were examined, and eleven asymptomatic neuroblastoma were discovered. The incidence of neuroblastoma by this system was one out of 21,000 infants. Eight patients including three disseminated cases were treated at our institution. All of them have completed their treatment and are alive without any evidence of the disease. Their disease-free intervals have lasted from 15 months to 6 years. The mass screening system contributes to the improvement of treatment of neuroblastoma. Careful attention, however, should be paid to those whose results were negative, as neuroblastoma could occur later.
