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Biomarkers in Neuroblastoma: An Insight into Their Potential Diagnostic and Prognostic Utilities

  • Neuroendocrine Cancers (M Cives, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Opinion Statement

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a heterogeneous solid tumor of the pediatric population that originates from neural crest cells and affects the developing sympathetic nervous system. It is the most common neuroblastic tumor accounting for approximately 10% of all childhood cancers and 10–15% of pediatric tumor mortalities. The outcomes range from spontaneous tumor regression in low-risk groups to metastasis and death even after multimodal therapy in high-risk groups. Hence, the detection of NB at an early stage improves outcomes and provides a better prognosis for patients. Early detection and prognosis of NB depend on specific molecules termed biomarkers which can be tissue-specific or circulating. Certain biomarkers are employed in the classification of NB into different groups to improve the treatment and prognosis, and others can be used as therapeutic targets. Therefore, novel biomarker discovery is essential for the early detection of NB, predicting the course of the disease, and developing new targeted treatment strategies. In this review, we aim to summarize the literature pertinent to some important biomarkers of NB and discuss the prognostic role of these biomarkers as well as their potential role in targeted therapy.

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References and Recommended Reading

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all members of the Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Lebanese University (Beirut, Lebanon), for their help on this work. This work was not funded.

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Author notes

  1. Fatima Shawraba, Hussein Hammoud, Yara Mrad and Zahraa Saker have contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut, Lebanon

    Fatima Shawraba MSc, Hussein Hammoud MSc, Zahraa Saker MSc, Youssef Fares MD, PhD, Hayat Harati PhD & Sanaa Nabha PhD

  2. Université Clermont Auvergne, Inserm, Neuro-Dol, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Yara Mrad MSc

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Youssef Fares MD, PhD

  4. Arkadi M. Rywlin M.D. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Rd, Miami Beach, FL, 33140, USA

    Hisham F. Bahmad MD MSc

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  1. Fatima Shawraba MSc
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Contributions

HFB and SN conceived the concept and idea of the present review. HFB and SN worked on the study design strategy and selected the topics to be discussed. FS, HH and YM did literature searches and screened titles and abstracts for relevance, abstracted the data from the eligible full text articles, analyzed and interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. ZS, HH, and YF critically revised the manuscript. HFB and SN critically revised the manuscript with input from the entire team. All authors have read and approved the final draft.

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Correspondence to Hisham F. Bahmad MD MSc or Sanaa Nabha PhD.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Neuroendocrine Cancers

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Shawraba, F., Hammoud, H., Mrad, Y. et al. Biomarkers in Neuroblastoma: An Insight into Their Potential Diagnostic and Prognostic Utilities. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 22, 102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-021-00898-1

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