title: N-myc oncogene amplification in a patient with IV-S neuroblastoma.
abstract: Neuroblastoma (NB) is a tumor usually arising in children and young adults showing different degrees of malignancy. Recently, the presence of N-myc amplification in neuroblasts has been associated with a poor outcome in the late stages of disease (Evans's Stage IV). Until now no amplification of N-myc gene has been observed in Stage IV-S, usually considered to have a favorable prognosis. In this paper we report a case of a child affected by NB Stage IV-S showing mild N-myc gene amplification. The finding of N-myc amplification in our patient shows that such alteration of the N-myc oncogene is not necessarily correlated with a poor prognosis; in this light the role of N-myc amplification in the neoplastic process should be reconsidered.
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003101:Collodion; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000473:pathology*; D009857:Oncogenes; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D003101:Collodion