The 1p deletion is not a reliable marker for the prognosis of patients with neuroblastoma.
Human neuroblastoma cells often have deletions of the distal short arm of chromosome 1 (1p). Earlier studies using chromosome analysis had suggested that the 1p deletion is correlated with a poor survival chance for the patient. We have reevaluated this possibility by analyzing 51 neuroblastomas for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 1p. We detected LOH in 32% of the cases. LOH did not correlate with the age of the patients at diagnosis or with tumor stage but was correlated significantly with amplification of the MYCN proto-oncogene. Nine of 10 MYCN-amplified tumors had deletions in 1p (P < 0.001). Survival chances of patients with tumors carrying MYCN amplification together with the deletion at 1p were decreased significantly (eight of nine affected patients died) compared with a patient group without any of these aberrations (P < 0.001). However, the deletion of 1p alone without MYCN amplification was not associated with a poor outcome compared with patients who had neither deletion nor amplification (only two of eight affected patients died; P = 0.803). From these data we conclude that 1p deletions are not reliable markers to determine a patient's prognosis. They may, however, identify a subgroup of neuroblastomas in which MYCN is amplified readily, resulting in rapid tumor progression.
Gehring
M
M
Department of Cytogenetics, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
Berthold
F
F
Edler
L
L
Schwab
M
M
Amler
L C
LC
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D002878:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011379:Prognosis; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes
D015415:Biomarkers; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas