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Researchers have studied whether screening infants for
neuroblastoma might result in earlier diagnosis and better treatment
results. Screening is testing for a disease, such as cancer, in people
without symptoms. One way to screen for neuroblastoma is to test
children's urine for certain substances made by neuroblastoma tumors.
(For more information on this urine test, see the section, "How
is neuroblastoma diagnosed?")
Studies have not found neuroblastoma screening to be helpful.
Testing infants when they were 6 months old did find a large number of
tumors that wouldn't have normally been diagnosed. But most of these
tumors were of a type that would probably go away or mature into a
benign tumor on their own and would likely never have caused any
problems. The screening didn't lower the number of cases found at
advanced stages or save lives.
What's more, only half of children identified by screening
tests as possibly having neuroblastoma actually have a tumor that would
cause serious problems. These "false positive" results may needlessly
frighten parents and can lead to unnecessary tests and surgery in
children whose tumors would regress naturally.
For these reasons, most experts do not recommend screening for
neuroblastoma in infants at average risk of the disease.
In rare instances, neuroblastoma is found before birth during
an ultrasound, a test that uses sound waves to create an image of the
internal organs of a fetus. Ultrasounds are usually done to estimate
the age of a fetus, predict the date of birth, and look for certain
common birth defects. Improvements in ultrasound technology or other
methods may lead to more accurate prenatal (before birth) testing for
this disease.
Neuroblastoma is sometimes found by accident in young children
without any symptoms during tests done to find other childhood
diseases. These children will usually have a good outcome and may not
even need treatment. However, in most cases, neuroblastoma is detected
because it causes certain symptoms that show the child is ill (see the
section, "How
is neuroblastoma diagnosed?").
Last Medical Review: 11/23/2009
Last Revised: 11/23/2009
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