The issue of common criteria for staging neuroblastoma came to the fore in the first Forbeck Foundation Forum held twenty years ago. Out of this meeting was born the "Forbeck Neuroblastoma Staging System" or INSS staging system. Under the auspices of the Foundation, experts on the disease from all over the world met to define a universally acceptable staging system for Neuroblastoma. Two further meetings were held in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s to refine the system and try to incorporate biological risk factors into the system.

Despite the fact that the staging system has been taken up universally, the role of biological risk factors in staging the disease has never been fully addressed. For experts, the question of whether biological markers add anything to conventional risk factors such as stage and age remains unknown. Last summer the Foundation was honored at a Neuroblastoma meeting in Italy for providing the platform to enable clinicians to develop the INSS staging system. At the same time the Foundation was approached to fund another meeting to update the system.

It was felt that the issue of age in the staging of the disease needed further review. The need for a common definition for undertaking and interpreting mIBG scans was raised as was the question of the usefulness of biological markers. Dr. S. Cohn in Chicago and Prof. A. Pearson in Newcastle, UK agreed to lead the team and the Foundation has agreed to fund this in the fall of 2005. Work to make the meeting a success has already begun with the working groups identified and their tasks outlined. It is planned to have all of the data required in place by July in preparation for the meeting in September. The staging meeting will be held in Whistler, British Columbia immediately before the International Society for Paediatric Oncology, to be held in Vancouver. In keeping with the Foundation's "focus on the future," four or five junior faculty members will be invited to attend the meeting as an educational experience. We hope for a successful meeting and an outcome that enhances the International Neuroblastoma Staging System.

Jennifer Forbeck receives award in Genoa, Italy - recognizing the Foundation for "its remarkable contribution to establish an effective, long-lasting International link among clinicians and scientists involved with neuroblastoma."