title: Prognostic significance of the proliferative activity in neuroblastoma.
abstract: The prognostic significance of the immunohistochemically assessed growth fraction in neuroblastomas was determined in relation to tumor grade and tumor stage. A total of 101 cases of neuroblastoma were examined with the monoclonal antibodies PC10 against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-S5 against the Ki-67 protein. Patients were followed for a mean time of 4.8 years. Expression of both PC10 and Ki-S5 was found to be significantly linked to tumor grade and tumor stage. Prognostically favorable stage IVs was associated with low PCNA and Ki-S5 levels. For ganglioneuroblastoma, significant differences were found between the diffuse and the composite type. In univariate analysis of stage III and IV tumors, Ki-S5 and PCNA scores were significantly correlated with disease-free survival (P < 0.0015), allowing definition of a subset of cases with favorable outcome. As to Shimada's group with poor prognosis, significant differences in the clinical course were found for low and high Ki-S5 scores (P = 0.036) but not for PCNA. In multivariate analysis, only patient age, Shimada's grade, and Ki-S5 scores achieved prognostic significance. We conclude that proliferation marker Ki-S5 may provide substantial prognostic information and might become a useful adjunct for predicting the clinical courses of neuroblastoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pathology, University of Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lappe
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hero
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berthold
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parwaresch
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002455:Cell Division; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor