title: Clinical relevance of molecular markers in neuroblastoma: results from a single institution.
abstract: Neuroblastomas, the most common extracranial solid tumors in children, present an extremely heterogeneous behaviour that can be explained in part by their genetic abnormalities. Thirty-four patients treated at the Pediatric Oncology Unit, Hospital Vall d'Hebron from 1993 to 1997 were prospectively studied to determine the relative prognostic impact of a number of clinical and molecular factors. The factors studied were: ploidy, MYCN and 1p status, and TRK-A expression, in addition to age, stage and histology. Their impact on prognosis was analyzed. In univariate analysis, advanced stage, unfavorable histology, diploidy, MYCN amplification, and 1p deletion were identified as adverse prognostic factors; TRK-A expression was associated with favorable prognosis. After multivariate analysis, only MYCN amplification proved to be an independent adverse prognostic factor (p=0.03), whereas TRK-A expression identified a subset of good-prognosis patients (p=0.003).
authors.affiliation: Unitat d'Oncologia Pediatrica, Hospital Materno-Infantil Vall d'Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gallego
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parareda
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Munell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez de Toledo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reventos
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D011003:Ploidies; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020917:Receptor, trkA; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020917:Receptor, trkA