title: A significant association of Ha-ras p21 in neuroblastoma cells with patient prognosis. A retrospective study of 103 cases.
abstract: To evaluate biologic characteristics of neuroblastoma, the authors examined the expression of Ha-ras gene (Ha-ras p21) in 103 primary tumors obtained at the time of diagnosis. Higher expression of the Ha-ras p21 in tumor cells showed a significant association with lower clinical stage of the tumor at diagnosis (chi-square = 35.418, degrees of freedom [df] = 9, P less than 0.001) and survival of the patients (chi-square = 37.111, df = 3, P less than 0.001). Thirty-six (84%) of 43 patients with decreased Ha-ras p21 expression died of aggressive disease. The Ha-ras DNA was examined in the 32 tumors by Southern blot analysis. Neither augmentation nor deletion of the Ha-ras DNA was observed. Amplification of the N-myc DNA was also examined in 43 cases in comparison with Ha-ras p21 expression. N-myc amplification was detected in 12 (55%) of 22 patients who died, and 19 (86%) of the 22 patients showed a low expression of the Ha-ras p21 in tumor cells. Eighteen (86%) of 21 survivors showed a high expression of the Ha-ras p21. The expression of Ha-ras p21 was thought to be a clinically important marker for prognosis in children with neuroblastoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Kure Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Slamon
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ida
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Seeger
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology*; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007223:Infant; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015689:Oncogene Protein p21(ras) / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D015689:Oncogene Protein p21(ras)