January 22, 2013 Contact: Rachel Salis-Silverman, Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia, 267-426-6063 or
firstname.lastname@example.org An extensive genomic study of the
childhood cancer neuroblastoma reinforces the challenges in
treating the most aggressive forms of this disease. Contrary to
expectations, the scientists found relatively few recurrent gene
mutations—mutations that would suggest new targets for
neuroblastoma treatment. Instead, say the researchers, they have
now refocused on how neuroblastoma tumors evolve in response to
medicine and other factors. “This research underscores the fact
that tumor cells often change rapidly over time, so more
effective treatments for this aggressive cancer will need to
account for the dynamic nature of neuroblastoma,” said study
leader John M. Maris, MD, director of the Center for Childhood
Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
(CHOP). Striking the peripheral nervous system, neuroblastoma
usually appears as a solid tumor in a young child’s ches