What is neuroblastoma?

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that affects children. It mostly affects children under the age of 5 years. Around 100 children between the ages of 0 and 14 years are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year in the UK. Very rarely it can develop in older children, teenagers and adults.

Neuroblastoma is a cancer that starts in a type of nerve cell called a neuroblast.

• ‘neuro’ means nerve
• ‘blast’ means cells in early development
• ‘oma’ means a group of cells, or a tumour

Where in the body does it start?

Neuroblastoma often starts in the tummy (abdomen), commonly in:

• the adrenal glands  
• the nerve tissue at the back of the abdomen

Where can neuroblastoma spread to?

Like other cancers it can spread to other parts of the body.

The most common places are the bones, liver, skin and bone marrow . It spreads through the blood and lymphatic system .

This happens in about half (about 50%) of children with neuroblastoma. In the other half (about 50%) neuroblastoma is a single tumour in one place in the body.

What causes neuroblastoma?

We don’t know exactly what causes neuroblastoma. In some cases, there is a family history. But these cases are very rare.

Parents of children with cancer can sometimes worry about what caused their child's cancer. And some worry about whether it could have been something they did, or didn’t do. We don’t know what causes, or how to prevent most childhood cancers. This includes neuroblastoma. No one should feel to blame.

Symptoms

The most common symptom of neuroblastoma is a lump in the tummy. This could make the child’s tummy swell, causing discomfort or pain.

There are other less common symptoms of neuroblastoma.

Staging and risk groups

Doctors group neuroblastoma by risk. This looks at whether there is a low, medium or high risk of the cancer coming back after treatment. 

Doctors usually decide on a risk group depending on a number of things:

• how old the child is
• what the neuroblastoma cells look like under a microscope
• the stage of neuroblastoma
• changes in genes inside the neuroblastoma cells

The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and whether it has spread. Knowing the stage can help your doctor decide on the right treatment. And it can help to predict the outcome after treatment.

Treatment

The main treatments for neuroblastoma are:

• surgery
• chemotherapy
• radiotherapy
• immunotherapy