ABOUT NEUROBLASTOMA

Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer found in infants and the most common extra-cranial solid tumor found in children. There is very little known about why neuroblastoma occurs, or about what factors increase the risk for occurrence. There is no known cure. Every 16 hours a child with neuroblastoma dies. 

Neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that occurs in children, generally around age two.   It is a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system, a nerve network throughout the body which carries messages from the brain. Neuroblastoma is a malignant tumor that manifests as a lump or mass in the abdomen, around the spinal cord, or in the chest, neck, or pelvis. 

Diagnosis of neuroblastoma can be complicated. It has been called the “great masquerader” because its symptoms mimic so many other diseases.   Nearly 70% of those children first diagnosed, have disease that has already metastasized or spread to other parts of the body.

Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in the US and it kills more children per year than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, asthma and AIDS combined. There are 15 children diagnosed with cancer for every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS. Yet, the U.S. invests approximately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.