title: Neuroblastoma: a single institution's experience with 128 children and an evaluation of clinical and biological prognostic factors.
abstract: Between 1985 and 1999, 128 children with neuroblastoma were treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. The objective of this retrospective study was to report on a single institution's experience with neuroblastoma and to evaluate clinical and biological prognostic factors using univariate and multivariate assessment. Fifty-two percent presented with localized disease, 41% had stage IV disease, and 7% had stage IVs disease. The 5-year overall survival rate was 65%. Significant prognostic factors in univariate analysis included stage, site, histology, N-myc amplification, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and urinary dopamine. In multivariate assessment, the adjusted hazard ratio was 3.5 (95 %CI 1.4-8.5) for N-myc amplification, 8.7 (95% CI 3.0-25) for NSE > 300 ng/mL, and 3.6 (95% CI 1.3-10) for-LDH > 3000 U/L. This study confirmed that survival was heavily influenced by closely interrelated clinical and biological factors. Prospective studies including more recently identified molecular prognostic factors are warranted to predict the biological heterogeneity of neuroblastoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, New South Wales, Australia. lorettalau48@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Loretta
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lau
mesh_terms: D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004298:Dopamine / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D016259:Genes, myc; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000097:blood; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; D004298:Dopamine