Neuroblastoma (NBL):
- The most common extra-cranial solid tumor in children
- Accounts for 8 - 10% of childhood malignancies
- Is the cause of 15% of all cancer deaths in children
Neuroblastoma is the most frequent tumor to be diagnosed in children less than one year of age (50% of cases are diagnosed within the first year of life) but is extremely rare in children over 10 years of age.
The median age at diagnosis is 17 months.
Incidence (USA) in children younger than 15 years:
- 10.4 per million per year in white children
- 8.3 per million black children
- Uniform throughout the world for industrialized countries
Prevalence (USA) - 1 case per 7000 live births or 800 new cases per year
Male: female ratio of 1.2:1
In Canada:
- 302 children (aged 0 - 14) were diagnosed with neuroblastoma between 2003 and 2007.
- 71 children died of this disease between 2002 and 2006
- This disease has a low observed survival proportion (75%) compared to other childhood cancers.
These statistics are from Canadian Cancer Statistics 2011
