N-myc oncogene amplification in paediatric tumours.
DNA, extracted from tumours arising in 29 paediatric patients [14 neuroblastoma, 9 Wilms tumour (nephroblastoma), 6 miscellaneous] was investigated for evidence of N-myc amplification, using pNb-1, a recombinant plasmid containing a 1.0 Kb fragment homologous to the 5' end of the human N-myc gene. Within the neuroblastoma group, 4 patients had 15 or more copies of N-myc which correlated with advanced disease stage, and 3 other patients showed low grade amplification (2-5 copies). Low grade amplification was also observed in one patient with stage III unfavourable histology Wilms tumour, resistant to treatment. N-myc was present at single copy level in all other tumours studied. It is concluded that N-myc activation by amplification confers aggressive properties on a variety of embryonal tumours, rather than being restricted to initiation of neoplasia in tumours of neuroectodermal origin. A greater understanding of the complex interaction of a number of oncogenes involved in neuroblastoma may enable more effective therapeutic strategies to be devised.
McQuaid
S
S
Children's Research Centre, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland.
O'Meara
A
A
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D016259:Genes, myc; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics; D009396:Wilms Tumor / Q000235:genetics