neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid cancer in childhood and the most common cancer in infancy. It is a neuroendocrine tumor, arising from any neural crest element of the sympathetic nervous system or SNS. It most frequently originates in one of the adrenal glands, but can also develop in nerve tissues in the neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis. Close to 50 percent of neuroblastoma cases occur in children younger than two years old.