A Primary Report 166 Cases of Abdominal or Pelvic Neuroblastoma Surgery Utilizing the International Neuroblastoma Surgical Report Form (INSRF).

Abstract

Background: Surgery is pivotal in the management of neuroblastoma (NB), particularly in patients with image-defined risk factors. The International Neuroblastoma Surgical Report Form (INSRF) was introduced to enhance surgical reporting quality and analyze the defining role of extensive surgery in NB. This study reports our experience with INSRF and explores new criteria for evaluating the extent of surgical resection.

Methods: INSRF was deployed to critically analyze 166 patients with abdominal or pelvic NB who underwent surgery at our department between October 2021 and June 2023. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, surgical data sets, and postoperative complications were described in detail. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to explore a new method to evaluate the extent of resection. A questionnaire was formulated to obtain attitudes/feedback and commentary from surgical oncologists with INSRF.

Results: One hundred sixty-six NB patients with a median disease age of 36.50 months. This study collated 320 INSRF reports. Among the 166 index cases, 137 were documented by 2 surgeons, with a concordance rate of 16.78%. Items with high inconsistency were (1) the extent of tumor resection (29.20%), (2) renal vein involvement (25.55%), (3) abdominal aorta encasement (16.79%), and (4) mesenteric infiltration (17.52%). According to INSRF, the extent of resection was complete excision in 86 (51.81%) patients, minimal residual tumor < 5 cm 3 in 67 (40.36%) patients, and incomplete excision > 5 cm 3 in 13 (7.83%) patients. In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the number of vessels encased by tumors >3 had a high predictive value in determining that a tumor could not be completely resected (area under the curve 0.916, sensitivity 0.838, specificity 0.826) using INSRF as the gold standard reference. The questionnaires showed that surgeons agreed that the extent of resection and tumor involvement of organ/vascular structures were important, while the definition and intervention(s) of intraoperative complications were less operational and understandable.

Conclusions: INSRF has significant clinical applications in NB surgery. The extent of resection can be predicted based on the number of tumor-encased blood vessels. Supplementary information should be considered with the INSRF to aid practitioner reporting. Multicenter studies are needed to explore the defining role of INSRF in NB surgical management.