INTRODUCTION: The introduction of the mass screening (MS) program measuring urinary catecholamine metabolites at six-months of age for detecting neuroblastoma has resulted in the increase in both number and incidence of patients detected less than one year of age in Japan. The prognosis for infantile neuroblastoma is well known to surpass that for older patients. The prognosis of patients detected by MS has been outstanding. However, in Japan, there has been no consentient guideline of optimal therapeutic management for infants with favorable prognosis. There has been a continuing controversy on the selection of appropriate therapy for neuroblastoma infants, especially those detected by MS. In Japan, based on prognostic factors including N-myc amplification as well as clinical stage, patients with advanced disease receive a consistent therapeutic regimen. In contrast, neuroblastoma infants with favorable biological characteristics and clinical outcome have received variable therapeutic regimens at individual institutions. Resulting from an urgency to assess the status and enforce a consentient as well as an optimal management plan for neuroblastoma infants, the survey and the analysis on a total of 537 cases, including 355 cases detected by the MS program, were conducted and led us to the conclusion that neuroblastoma infants in Japan had been treated comparatively intensive despite excellent prognosis, and further that adjuvant chemotherapy should be avoidable or minimized for patients with such excellent outcomes. Finally, a nationwide prospective study (#9405) has been commenced in Japan to standardize and to optimize therapy for neuroblastoma infants. In the present paper, retrospective considerations and current stategy for neuroblastoma infants in Japan will be discussed.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant* ; Japan* ; Mass Screening ; Neuroblastoma* ; Population Characteristics ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies