Neuroblastoma in childhood and its potential viral involvement: A webinar by the Paediatric Virology Study Group

Abstract

Neuroblastoma represents the most common and lethal solid tumour of early childhood. In view of variations in genetic elements, MYCN amplification is certainly the most prominent genetic factor occurring in 1/4 or 1/5 of children with neuroblastoma; however, overall, the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma remains to be resolved. Rare, sporadic infections with Epstein‑Barr, hepatis C virus and varicella‑zoster virus have been detected in children with neuroblastoma, while the presence of BK virus was initially claimed, but later falsified as a triggering factor for the development of high‑risk neuroblastoma. The proposed model by Professor Ugo Rovigatti, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Florence in Italy, is based upon infection with micro‑foci inducing virus and its potential tumorigenic role as trigger of i) high and persistent inflammation; ii) chromothripsis and genetic instability; and iii) <em>in vitro</em> cell transformation and <em>in vivo</em> carcinogenesis. Modelling is still under‑utilized and under-developed in clinical virology and cancer research; however, it is expected to play a significant role in the future, aiming to elucidate the cancer enigma. This article is based on a webinar on neuroblastoma in children, which was organised virtually on December 12, 2020, by the Institute of Paediatric Virology.