Neuron-specific enolase evaluation in patients with neuroblastoma.
Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) may be of interest for the prognostic evaluation and follow-up surveillance in patients with neuroblastoma. We evaluated NSE levels in 80 patients with neuroblastoma. The marker correlated with stage (in stage 1 patients, the median NSE level was 9.9 ng/ml, in stage 2, 45.1 ng/ml, in stage 3, 49 ng/ml, in stage 4, 93.9 ng/ml, in stage 4S, 53.4 ng/ml) and with survival. In patients with a favorable or a poor outcome, the difference in basal NSE serum levels was statistically significant (p = 0.0001). Serial measurements revealed that there was a good correlation between NSE levels and disease course. We concluded that NSE is a good marker for neuroblastoma and its quantitative determination in serum is valuable in the management of these patients to confirm the diagnosis, monitor the effect of treatment and detect recurrent disease.
Nuclear Medicine Division, National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy.
S
S
Massaron
E
E
Seregni
R
R
Luksch
M
M
Casanova
C
C
Botti
L
L
Ferrari
A
A
Martinetti
S N
SN
Molteni
F F
FF
Bellani
E
E
Bombardieri
D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000556:secondary; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000032:analysis*; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase