Screening of Infants and Mortality Due to Neuroblastoma

Abstract

Background Neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial solid tumor that occurs in early childhood, can be identified in the preclinical stages by the detection of catecholamines in the urine. However, it is unknown whether routine screening for neuroblastoma reduces mortality due to this disease. Methods Through their parents, we offered screening for neuroblastoma at three weeks and six months of age to all 476,654 children born in the province of Quebec, Canada, during a five-year period (May 1, 1989, through April 30, 1994). The participation rate was 92 percent. The rate of death due to neuroblastoma was determined and compared with the rates in several unscreened control populations born during the same period. Results Among children younger than eight years of age in the Quebec cohort, there were 22 deaths due to neuroblastoma; the cumulative (±SE) mortality rate due to neuroblastoma was 4.78±1.14 per 100,000 children over a period of nine years. The standardized incidence ratios for death due to ne...