Local MRI before and after Tumor Resection in Neuroblastoma: Impact of Residual Disease on Event Free Survival

(1) Background: The study aimed to investigate the influence of MRI-defined residual disease on local tumor control after resection of neuroblastic tumors in patients without routine adjuvant radiotherapy. (2) Methods: Patients, who underwent tumor resection between 2009 and 2019 and received a pre- and postoperative MRI, were included in this retrospective single-center study. Measurement of residual disease (RD) was performed using standardized criteria. Primary endpoint was the local or combined (local and metastatic) event free survival (EFS). (3) Results: Forty-one patients (20 female) with median age of 39 months were analyzed. Risk group analysis showed eleven low-, eight intermediate-, and twenty-two high-risk patients (LR, IR, HR). RD was found in 16 cases by MRI. A local or combined relapse or progression was found in nine patients of whom eight patients had RD (p = 0.0004). From the six patients with local or combined relapse in the HR group, five had RD (p = 0.005). Only one of 25 patients without RD had a local event. Mean EFS (month) was significantly higher if MRI showed no residual tumor (81 +/- 5 vs. 43 +/- 9; p = 0.0014) for the total cohort and the HR subgroup (62 +/- 7 vs. 31 +/- 11; p = 0.016). (4) Conclusions: In our series, evidence of residual tumor, detectable by MRI, was associated with insufficient local control, resulting in relapses or local progression in 50% of patients. Only one of the patients without residual tumor had a local relapse.