Biomaterial Database

Screening procedures for neuroblastoma: false-negative results. 1975

R E Johnsonbaugh, and R Cahill

Since elevation of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid (VMA) excretion frequently occurs in patients with neuroblastoma, simpler methods have been developed to differentiate between high and low levels of VMA in the urine, namely the LaBrosse spot test and VMA test strips. Sensitivity of these two procedures depends upon the concentration of VMA in the urine rather than total amount of VMA excreted. VMA excretion data from patients with neuroblastoma show that even though the total amount of VMA excreted in a 24-hour period may definitely be elevated, the concentration of VMA in the 24-hour urine samples may vary greatly from one day to the next and from one patient to another. Therefore, these rapid screening methods for urinary VMA would appear to be too insensitive to use as the sole means of detection or follow-up of patients with neuroblastoma since these techniques require a high concentration of VMA.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D009447	Neuroblastoma	A common neoplasm of early childhood arising from neural crest cells in the sympathetic nervous system, and characterized by diverse clinical behavior, ranging from spontaneous remission to rapid metastatic progression and death. This tumor is the most common intraabdominal malignancy of childhood, but it may also arise from thorax, neck, or rarely occur in the central nervous system. Histologic features include uniform round cells with hyperchromatic nuclei arranged in nests and separated by fibrovascular septa. Neuroblastomas may be associated with the opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome. (From DeVita et al., Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, 5th ed, pp2099-2101; Curr Opin Oncol 1998 Jan;10(1):43-51)	Neuroblastomas
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005188	False Negative Reactions	Negative test results in subjects who possess the attribute for which the test is conducted. The labeling of diseased persons as healthy when screening in the detection of disease. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)	False Negative Reaction,Reaction, False Negative,Reactions, False Negative
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013899	Thoracic Neoplasms	New abnormal growth of tissue in the THORAX.	Neoplasm, Thoracic,Neoplasms, Thoracic,Thoracic Neoplasm
D013997	Time Factors	Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.	Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor
D014642	Vanilmandelic Acid	A 3-O-methyl ether of 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid. It is an end-stage metabolite of CATECHOLAMINES; EPINEPHRINE; and NOREPINEPHRINE.	Methoxyhydroxymandelic Acid,4-Hydroxy-3-Methoxymandelic Acid,Vanillylmandelic Acid,4 Hydroxy 3 Methoxymandelic Acid,Acid, 4-Hydroxy-3-Methoxymandelic,Acid, Methoxyhydroxymandelic,Acid, Vanillylmandelic,Acid, Vanilmandelic