Origin and mechanism of neuroblastoma

Abstract

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood, and develops mainly in the adrenal medulla but also in the sympathetic ganglia. Some cases of neuroblastoma show spontaneous regression. Particularly, stage 4S, where S stands for “special”, exhibits spontaneous regression despite multifocal tumors. Another interesting feature is that, with few exceptions, driver gene mutations are rare in neuroblastoma, while copy number alterations are common, including MYCN amplification, 17q gain, and others, suggesting the involvement of epigenetic regulation [1]. These features suggest that neuroblastoma tumorigenesis is closely related to the development of the sympathoadrenal lineage. However, the underlying mechanisms, even the origin of neuroblastoma, remain largely obscure. To elucidate those mechanisms, three important papers have been recently published [2-4].