About Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that develops from nerve cells found in several areas of the body. Neuroblastoma most commonly arises in and around the adrenal glands, which have similar origins to nerve cells and sit atop of kidneys.
Neuroblastoma most commonly affects children age five or younger, though it may rarely occur in older children and adults.
About 650 people are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year in the United States.
In general, cancer begins with a genetic mutation that allows normal, healthy cells to continue growing without responding to the signals to stop, which normal cells do. Cancer cells grow and multiply out of control. The accumulating abnormal cells form a mass (tumor). Cancer cells may invade nearby tissues and can break off from an initial tumor to spread elsewhere in the body (metastasize).
Neuroblastoma begins in neuroblasts – immature nerve cells that a fetus makes as part of its development process.
