This Sunday 5th July we participated in a 10km run in Regents Park, to raise much needed funds for the Neuroblastoma Society, a charity founded it 1982 to find improved diagnosis and treatment for this rare, aggressive, juvenile cancer.
Neuroblastoma is a tumour found in children in the back of the abdomen, chest and skull where it runs in a chain-like formation, following the spine. It is difficult to diagnose with an incidence of about 100 children in the UK and 650 in the US each year. Most doctors will never come across it in their careers even though after brain tumours, it’s the most common solid tumour found in children.
It can be hard to diagnose, particularly in the early stages because symptoms change depending upon where the cancer site is. Diagnosis is also made difficult because the symptoms are very common including loss of appetite and energy, aches and pains and sweating. A later sign is a swelling or lump in the abdomen where the cancer usually starts which can cause general discomfort and pain, constipation and difficulty in passing urine.
Like many cancers there are four different stages of neuroblastoma which reflect the spread of the condition. Treatment is different for each stage and can include chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and immunotherapy. Prognosis and treatment are also affected by the patient’s age, and the results of a variety of tests carried out during initial investigations.
Visit the Neuroblastoma Society website to find out more about what it does
For more information about Neuroblastoma you could go to www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/rare-cancers/rare-cancers-name/neuroblastoma
If you’d like to sponsor our participation in the 10k run, thereby supporting the important work Neuroblastoma does please go to our JustGiving page.
