Late recurrence of neuroblastoma stage 4S with unusual clinicopathologic findings

The authors present unusual clinicopathologic findings of a patient with neuroblastoma stage 4S that recurred 11 years after induction of complete remission with chemotherapy. A 12-year-old girl presented with recurrent tumor in the liver. Urinary catecholamine metabolites were within normal range in contrast to the increased values at initial presentation. She underwent left lateral segmentectomy and biopsy of the right lobe. Histologic analysis of the recurrent tumor showed undifferentiated neuroblastoma intermingled with mature ganglioneuromatous lesions. There also were scattered ganglioneuromatous lesions throughout nontumorous area of the liver. Although multimodal intensified treatments including autologous bone marrow transplantation were performed, the patient died of obstinate recurrent tumor at age 14 years. The clinicopathologic findings suggested dedifferentiation from the ganglioneuromatous lesion rather than ordinary recurrence of the primary tumor. The current case and the literature review may indicate that long-term follow-up would be necessary for neuroblastoma stage 4/4S cases. J Pediatr Surg 36:953-955. Copyright © 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company.