Neuroblastoma
It can be more difficult to control recurrent or refractory neuroblastoma. But there are treatments available. At the moment, there is no . Researchers are looking into how to improve treatment for all children living with neuroblastoma. Because of this, many children have treatment for recurrent or relapsed neuroblastoma as part of a .
The treatment that your child needs depends on several factors including:
where the cancer has come back
the original risk group
any treatment they have had before
the seriousness of any side effects they have, or have had before
if there are any changes in the neuroblastoma cells
Your child usually has another of the cancer. This is to look for any changes to the cancer cells that could help with treatment.
Your child has an individual treatment plan made for them. Your child’s doctor and specialist nurse will talk to you and your child about the treatment available for them. They will give you detailed information and allow you plenty of time to ask questions.
It can be very difficult to cope with the news that your child’s neuroblastoma has come back. At first, you are likely to feel very upset, frightened and confused. Or you may feel that things are out of your control.
It is very important to get the right information about your child’s cancer. And about what the treatment options are. Feeling informed about neuroblastoma and its treatment can help you make decisions and cope. Your child’s doctor or nurse specialist can give you information.
It can help to talk to family and friends about how you feel. Or a counsellor or your doctor or nurse.
Children with low or intermediate risk neuroblastoma, which has come back in the same place might have either:
surgery with chemotherapy
surgery without chemotherapy
Get information on treatments for neuroblastoma
For children with high risk neuroblastoma that has not gone away or has come back, treatment is usually intensive. Your child is likely to have a combination of treatments again.
The treatment will usually be different to what your child had before. It generally consists of the following parts:
induction treatment
consolidation treatment
maintenance treatment
The aim of induction treatment is to get rid of as many cancer cells as possible. Access to some treatment varies across UK nations. So you may only be able to get them through a clinical trial. Your child’s doctor will go through what they can have.
Some of the possible induction combinations include:
topotecan and cyclophosphamide
topotecan and temozolomide
irinotecan and temozolomide
temozolomide
ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide
bevacizumab, irinotecan and temozolomide
Or your child might have treatment as part of a clinical trial.
Your child’s doctor will look at how well the treatment is working after they have had 2 . They may change the treatment if it is not controlling the cancer well.
After induction treatment your child usually has consolidation treatment. The aim of this treatment is to kill any neuroblastoma cells that still might be in the body that can’t be seen.
Your child might have radiotherapy as well as a targeted radiotherapy. Targeted radiotherapy is similar to the mIBG scan used to diagnose neuroblastoma. As a treatment, your child will have a higher dose of radioactive iodine than they did with the scan. The cancer cells pick up the mIBG and die. Your child usually also has topotecan chemotherapy.
Some children with low or intermediate risk neuroblastoma have surgery if the cancer is in one area of the body (localised).
Your child might go on to have other treatments such as an immunotherapy medicine called dinutuximab beta with 13-cis-retinoic acid (isotretinoin). This is a man made form of vitamin A.
Your child might have high dose chemotherapy and a if they have not had one before. This is also known as stem cell rescue.
The aim of this part is to keep the cancer away or control the cancer for as long as possible.
There is no for maintenance. Your child’s doctor will go through the best option for your child. Some of the possible maintenance treatments children might have include:
dinutuximab beta with chemotherapy if they haven’t had it before
a chemotherapy drug called temozolomide they take by mouth
joining a clinical trial
Find out more about the treatments for neuroblastoma
Your doctor might suggest that your child has treatment as part of a clinical trial. This is likely to be trying newer treatments.
Targeted cancer drugs work by targeting the differences in cancer cells that help them to grow and survive. Immunotherapy drugs help the to attack the cancer.
In a large international trial, researchers are looking at new treatments for neuroblastoma that has come back or continued to grow. The trial team are looking at different combinations of the following drugs:
irinotecan
temozolomide
dinutuximab beta
bevacizumab
Find out more about the BEACON 2 trial
Doctors are looking at a new immunotherapy drug called naxitamab. It targets a protein on the surface of neuroblastoma cells called GD2. They hope it will help children whose neuroblastoma treatment has stopped working or come back.
Find out more about this treatment
Other researchers are looking at a targeted immunotherapy treatment. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor.
This is very early research looking at how easy or difficult it is to make the targeted CAR T-cells. How safe they are to give and how well they work once inside the person.
Find a trial for neuroblastoma on our clinical trials database
Last reviewed: 14 Oct 2026
Next review due: 14 Oct 2029
Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that affects children, mostly under the age of 5. Around 100 children are diagnosed each year in the UK. Find out more about the symptoms, tests your child might have, treatment, side effects, coping and research.
Surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy are the main treatments for neuroblastoma. Find out how doctors work out your child's treatment.
Researchers are looking at improving the diagnosis and treatment of neuroblastoma. Find out about the research that is happening.
Get information on organisations and resources that can help you and your family cope with a diagnosis of neuroblastoma.
Find out about what to expect when your child is first diagnosed.
