New trial aims to treat rare childhood cancer

Neuroblastoma develops from nerve cells and affects about 100 children a year in the UK.

The cancer usually starts in the child’s abdomen and can spread to other areas such as the bones, liver and skin. Initial symptoms can be vague – such as aches and pains and loss of appetite – and the cancer is often not diagnosed until the later stages, when it is more likely to kill.

Neuroblastoma usually affects children under the age of five, and can occur before a child is born.

It is the most common solid tumour in childhood after brain tumours.

In a trial about to be launched, experts from Cancer Research UK are using a new type of molecular radiotherapy which has never been tested in children before. The treatment uses radiotherapy to “piggy-back” on to a drug that naturally attaches itself to neuroblastoma cells.

Around 24 youngsters aged between 18 months and 18 will be treated during the trial at University College Hospital, London. They will receive up to four treatment courses once every eight weeks. This treatment is already known to be effective in adults with other types of cancer.