Deletion of 11q23 is a frequent event in the evolution of MYCN single-copy high-risk neuroblastomas.
BACKGROUND
Deletions of the long arm of chromosome 11 are frequently identified in human neuroblastomas.


METHODS
We screened 394 primary neuroblastomas and 52 tumor-derived cell lines with a panel of 11q and 11p polymorphic markers to determine the frequency of chromosome 11 allelic deletion, and to differentiate partial deletions of chromosome 11q (unb[11q] LOH) from whole chromosome loss.


RESULTS
Allelic deletion occurred most frequently at cytogenetic band 11q23 and was detected in 161 primary neuroblastomas (41%) and 18 cell lines (35%). Eighty-seven tumors (22%) had unb[11q] LOH with a heterogeneous distribution of deletion breakpoints. Unb[11q] LOH was highly correlated with age > 1 year at diagnosis (P = 0.008), stage 4 disease (P = 0.001), unfavorable Shimada histopathology (P < 0.001), and assignment to a high-risk therapeutic protocol (P < 0.001), and was inversely correlated with MYCN amplification (P = 0.018). Patients whose tumors showed unb[11q] LOH were less likely to survive (P < 0.001), but there was only a trend towards an independent prognostic influence in multivariate analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Thus, structural rearrangements resulting in unb[11q] LOH commonly occur during the malignant evolution of high-risk neuroblastomas with single-copy MYCN.
Guo
C
C
Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
White
P S
PS
Hogarty
M D
MD
Brodeur
G M
GM
Gerbing
R
R
Stram
D O
DO
Maris
J M
JM
D000483:Alleles; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11 / Q000235:genetics*; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured