New prognostic markers in neuroblastoma.

Introduction: The hallmark of neuroblastoma is its clinical and biological heterogeneity, with the likelihood of cure varying widely according to age at diagnosis, extent of disease and tumor biology. We hope this review will be useful for understanding part of the unfamiliar neuroblastoma codex.

Areas covered: In the first part of this review, the authors summarize the currently used prognostic factors for risk-adapted therapy, with the focus on clinical management of neuroblastoma patients. In the second part, the authors discuss the evolving prognostic factors for future treatment schemes. A search of online medical research databases was undertaken focusing especially on literature published in the last six years.

Expert opinion: Harnessing the synergy of the various forms of data, including clinical variables and biomarker profiles, would allow mathematical predictive models to be built for the individual patient, which could eventually become molecular targets of specific therapies.