The risk of many adult cancers can be reduced with certain lifestyle changes (such as staying at a healthy weight or quitting smoking), but at this time there are no known ways to prevent most cancers in children.
The only known risk factors for neuroblastoma cannot be changed. There are no known lifestyle-related or environmental causes of neuroblastomas.
Some studies suggest that having pregnant women take prenatal multi-vitamins or folic acid might lower the risk of neuroblastoma in their children, but further research is needed to confirm this.
If there is a history of neuroblastoma in your family, you may want to talk with a genetic counselor about your children’s risks of developing the disease. It is important to remember, though, that familial neuroblastoma is very rare.
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Goh YI, Bollano E, Einarson TR, Koren G. Prenatal multivitamin supplementation and rates of pediatric cancers: A meta-analysis. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2007;81:685–691.
Park JR, Hogarty MD, Bagatell R, et al. Chapter 23: Neuroblastoma. In: Blaney SM, Adamson PC, Helman LJ, eds. Pizzo and Poplack’s Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology. 8th ed. Philadelphia Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2021.
Shohet JM, Nuchtern JG. Epidemiology, pathogenesis, and pathology of neuroblastoma. UpToDate. 2021. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/epidemiology-pathogenesis-and-pathology-of-neuroblastoma on March 4, 2021.
Last Revised: April 28, 2021
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