Screening Infants for Neuroblastoma in North America
NANCY B. MCWILLIAMS MD1
1 Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
Since the first report of chemotherapy-induced complete remission in childhood leukemia,1 medical science has waged a global biologic war against cancer—a war fought with nuclear energy, cellular toxins, and conventional arms such as surgery. Many battles have been won, most notably in the Children's Crusade, but despite new attack weapons developed by the strategists, the battle against the arch enemy, disseminated neuroblastoma, has continued to yield a somber casualty list and few survivors among children older than 12 months at diagnosis. Despite the losses, we have learned a lot about the nature of this enemy. It is bizarre, malignant, and so capricious that it may even retreat without a fight, fall quickly under the sword, on resist for a time only to return in a sneak attack to kill its young victim.
