title: Prognostic indicators for neuroblastoma: stage, grade, DNA ploidy, MIB-1-proliferation index, p53, HER-2/neu and EGFr--a survival study.
abstract: Neuroblastoma, a tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, is one of the most common solid malignancies in infants and represents 7% of all cases of childhood cancer outside of the central nervous system. Thirty-five samples of neuroblastoma from 31 patients were obtained from Duke University Medical Center between 1979 and 1991 and studied to determine the relative prognostic value of a number of clinical, histologic, nuclear, and oncogenic features. The features studied were: stage, Shimada classification, DNA ploidy, MIB-1-proliferation index and status for HER-2/neu, p53 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr). Only age (P = .03), HER-2/neu (P = .01), and p53 (P = .02) reached statistical significance as prognostic indicators. The median survival for patients with HER-2/neu expression was 12 months; median survival for patients with no HER-2/neu expression was 138 months. Similarly, the median survival for patients with p53 expression was 12 months; patients with no p53 expression had a median survival was 144 months. The combination of either HER-2/neu or p53 positivity was especially strong as a prognostic indicator (P = .002).
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Layfield
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dodge
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kerns
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002455:Cell Division; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D011003:Ploidies; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53