title: [Clinical features and outcomes of neuroblastoma patients aged above 5 years].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical features and outcomes of neuroblastoma (NB) children aged above 5 years, and to provide a theoretical basis for improving prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 54 previously untreated NB children, and their clinical features and outcome were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 54 children, there were 36 boys and 18 girls, and all of them had stage 3 or 4 NB. Of all the children, 41 (41/54, 76%) had retroperitoneal space-occupying lesions, 10 (10/54, 18%) had mediastinal space-occupying lesions, 2 (2/54, 4%) had intraspinal space-occupying lesions, and 1 (1/54, 2%) had pelvic space-occupying lesions. At the end of the follow-up, 30 children (30/54, 56%) survived, among whom 23 (77%) achieved disease-free survival (9 achieved complete remission after chemotherapy for recurrence), 6 (20%) achieved partial remission of tumor (all of them received chemotherapy again due to recurrence), and 1 (3%) experienced progression (with progression after chemotherapy again due to recurrence); 24 children (44%) died, among whom 22 died after chemotherapy again due to recurrence and 2 died of multiple organ failure during the first treatment. According to the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the mean survival time was 53.8 months, and the children with stage 3 NB had a significantly higher overall survival rate than those with stage 4 NB (80% vs 53%; p<0.01). The children with recurrence had a significantly lower mean survival time than those without recurrence (51.68 months vs 62.57 months; p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older children often have late-stage NB, but standard treatment can improve their outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100176, China. hds5180@sina.com.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei-Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dong-Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: DU
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies