MALIGNANT TRANSFORMATION OF GANGLIONEUROMA INTO SPINAL NEUROBLASTOMA IN AN ADULT

Ganglioneuroma is generally considered to be a benign tumor and potent ially surgically curable. The authors present a case of a 21-year-old woman who underwent resection of a retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma and developed spinal neuroblastoma II years later. She has survived 10 mor e years with only recent development of metastases. To the authors' kn owledge, this is the first report of malignant transformation of a gan glioneuroma into a neuroblastoma. Also, such longterm survival in an a dult with spinal neuroblastoma has not been reported previously. This case raises the possibility of:a dedifferentiating potential for gangl ion cells in a ganglioneuroma or the presence of a long-term, quiescen t form of neuroblastoma.