A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease such as cancer.

Lifestyle-related risks are the most significant factors contributing to cancers in adults. Examples include the effect of unhealthy diets (low consumption of fruits and vegetables, etc.), not enough exercise, and habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Lifestyle-related risk factors have little or no significance in childhood cancer.

The only known risk factor for neuroblastoma is heredity. There is evidence suggesting that rarely, certain people may inherit an increased risk of developing neuroblastoma. Children with the familial form of neuroblastoma (those with an inherited tendency to develop this cancer) usually come from families with one or more affected members who often developed neuroblastoma as infants. These probably represent 1% to 2% of all neuroblastomas.

The average age at diagnosis of familial cases is 9 months. This is earlier than the age for sporadic (not inherited) cases. Also, children with familial neuroblastoma may develop 2 or more of these cancers in different organs (for example, in both adrenals or in more than one sympathetic ganglion). It is important to distinguish neuroblastomas developing in several organs from metastatic neuroblastomas (those starting in one organ and then spreading to others). When tumors develop in several places at once it suggests a familial form. Metastases can occur with either the familial or sporadic forms.

Revised: 08/04/2006