Metody detekcji przerzutów komórek neuroblastoma do szpiku kostnego

Neuroblastoma (NB), which is derived from the embryonic neural cells, is one of the most common childhood cancers (7–10%). Despite an increase in treatment intensity, the curability of patients, especially those in the high risk group, is still unsatisfactory. One of the causes of therapy failure may be the presence of cancer stem cells that survive chemotherapy and are capable of colonizing the bone marrow cavities. . A very important element in diagnosis of NB is the examination of bone marrow conducted either to confirm or exclude the presence of metastases. The currently used laboratory methods enable the detection of even a single NB cell and allow the monitoring of the minimal residual disease (MRD).