A number of tests screen for cancer in adults but very few such tests exist for children. In Japan, Quebec and some other parts of North America, there is an attempt to screen the urine of very young children to detect the presence of abnormal amounts of the chemical group known as catecholamines in the hope that earlier detection of neuroblastoma will result in an improved cure rate.
The child with a risk factor for developing cancer should be evaluated carefully by his or her physician. The screening may be as simple as a blood test in an identical twin of a child with leukemia or a series of ultrasound examinations of the abdomen for many years in a child with hemihypertrophy.
