Mass screening for neuroblastoma in Miyagi Prefecture

In Japan, aiming at early and preclinical detection of neuroblastoma in infancy a mass screening program for the tumor has been implemented nationwide using urinary tests for catecholamine metabolites, vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) (Sawada 1990; Sawada et al. 1991). In this report, the results obtained from the screening program in Miyagi Prefecture for the last 6 years are described. The detection rate of neuroblastoma by mass screening was 1:8,377 among 125,652 infants tested in Miyagi Prefecture. All but one patients survived after removal of the primary tumor and none or minimal chemotherapy.