Where should neuroblastoma mass screening go?

surgical resection of the tumour. Histology of these tumours has revealed ganglioneuroma or ganglioneuroblastoma with scanty foci of neuroblasts. At a recent meeting to reevaluate the screening programme, the consensus was that this attempt at conservative management for carefully selected patients was acceptable but still experimental and it was not recommended for routine use. Conservative treatment is very stressful both for the families and health staff because there is no way of distinguishing those tumours that carry a poor prognosis from spontaneously regressing ones. Legal repercussions can also be expected. This stressful effort at conservative management may help extend knowledge or confirm what is known about the nature of neuroblastomas detected on screening, but it is unlikely to give us the further information required for decision making. The conservative approach may be the best choice to prevent harm to young children in the prevailing situation, but calling a halt to the national screening programme is a better option.