Neuroblastoma is a rare and very aggressive childhood cancer of the nervous system. It is a cancer of abnormally developing nerve cells that affects mainly babies and young children and is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the under fives. The cancer is very unpredictable. Some children can be cured with little or no treatment while others develop an aggressive form of neuroblastoma from which less than half can be cured using current treatments including intensive chemotherapy. One of the biggest difficulties doctors face is the choice of appropriate treatment. Sometimes intensive chemotherapy is the only hope of a cure but can have very serious long-term side effects. The price paid by the child and their families is huge in terms of the suffering and side effects endured and the possible long term consequences of treatment, both physical and psychological. Less toxic and more effective therapeutic approaches for the treatment of paediatric cancers like neuroblastoma are desperately needed. The development of possible treatments and a new generation of drugs that will target specific genes in cancer cells is an essential and important step in combating this deadly condition. This is why Sparks is funding research into Neuroblastoma. Since 1991, SPARKS has awarded 10 grants, in excess of £1 million pounds, funding essential Neuroblastoma cancer research. Green tea and red pepper extracts for the treatment of neuroblastoma £161,536 over 3 years at the UCL Institute of Child Health, London is the latest project to be funded by SPARKS, it aims to determine whether naturally occurring extracts – green tea catechins and red pepper capsaicin – have therapeutic potential in neuroblastoma. If proven, it is entirely possible that therapies incorporating these will be a viable alternative to chemotherapy and its unwelcome long-term side effects.