{"entity":{"id":"paper-anbl00p2-expectant-observation-nuchtern-ann-surg-2012","kind":"paper","name":"ANBL00P2: expectant observation as primary therapy for neuroblastoma in young infants","aka":[],"tldr":"Small adrenal masses found in infants under six months could safely be watched rather than operated on: nearly half shrank or disappeared and the rest were removed later without any child dying of neuroblastoma.","summary":"Children's Oncology Group prospective study of 87 infants under six months with small (under 3.1 cm solid or 5 cm cystic) adrenal masses managed by observation with serial ultrasound and urinary catecholamines, with surgery for growth or progression.\n\nEighty-one percent avoided surgery; among those observed, 45 percent had complete or partial spontaneous resolution, and three-year event-free and overall survival were 97.7 and 100 percent.","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[{"label":"Ann Surg 2012","url":"https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0b013e31826cbbbd"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22964741/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["neuroblastoma-low-risk"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"journal":"Annals of Surgery","year":2012,"doi":"10.1097/SLA.0b013e31826cbbbd","pmid":"22964741","authors":"Nuchtern JG, London WB, Barnewolt CE, et al.","paperType":"observational","findings":["Surgery avoided in 81 percent of infants.","Three-year overall survival 100 percent."],"whatItMeans":"Observation without biopsy is standard for small adrenal masses in young infants, sparing them surgery for tumours that often regress.","caveats":["Applies only to small localised masses in infants under six months with defined imaging criteria."],"changedPractice":true,"participants":87},"route":"/key-papers/paper-anbl00p2-expectant-observation-nuchtern-ann-surg-2012/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"neuroblastoma-low-risk","kind":"cancer","name":"Low-risk neuroblastoma (INRG very low and low risk, including stage MS)","route":"/cancers/neuroblastoma-low-risk/"}]}}