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Neuroblastic Tumors (neuroblastic + tumor)

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Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

GRP78 expression correlates with histologic differentiation and favorable prognosis in neuroblastic tumors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2005
Wen-Ming Hsu
Abstract Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), an endoplasmic reticulum protein, is essential for the differentiation of neuroblastoma cells and is selectively induced when the cells are undergoing apoptosis. These findings suggest that GRP78 may affect the tumor behavior of neuroblastoma. Our study evaluates the association of clinicopathologic factors and patient survival with the expression of GRP78 in patients with neuroblastoma. GRP78 expression in 68 neuroblastic tumors was investigated semiquantitatively by immunohistochemistry. GRP78 mRNA and protein levels in 7 tumor tissues were also quantified by real-time PCR and Western blot respectively and correlated well with the immunohistochemical results. Forty (58.8%) of the 68 neuroblastic tumors showed positive GRP78 expression. The percentage of positive GRP78 immunostaining increased as the tumor histology became differentiated (p = 0.001). Furthermore, positive GRP78 expression strongly correlated with early clinical stages (P = 0.002) but inversely correlated with MYCN amplification (p = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with positive GRP78 expression did have better survival than those with negative expression (5-year survival rate, 72.9% and 23.4% respectively, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis further showed that GRP78 expression was an independent prognostic factor. Moreover, GRP78 expression predicted better survival in patients with either undifferentiated or differentiated histologies. GRP78 expression still had significant prognostic value when the analysis was restricted to tumors of advanced stages or without MYCN amplification. Thus, GRP78 can serve as a novel independent favorable prognostic factor for patients with neuroblastoma. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Determination of genomic damage in neuroblastic tumors by arbitrarily primed PCR: MYCN amplification as a marker for genomic instability in neuroblastomas

NEUROPATHOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Jorge Muñoz
The aim of this study is to establish an estimation of the global genomic alteration in neuroblastic tumors (ganglioneuromas, ganglioneuroblastomas and neuroblastomas) and correlate them with different clinical parameters (age, sex, diagnosis, Shimada index, proliferation index, tumor location, and 1p and v-myc avian myelocitomatosis viral-related (MYCN) status) in order to find new molecular and/or prognostic markers for neuroblastoma. To assess the genomic damage in neuroblastic tumors, we used an arbitrarily primed PCR approach, a technique based on the reproducibility of band profiles obtained by a PCR with a low annealing temperature in its first cycles. Genomic damage was assessed by comparing band profiles of tumors and normal paired samples. Gains and losses in the intensity of the bands were computerized and referred to the total number of bands analyzed. We found a higher genomic damage fraction (GDF) in the female's group (U-Mann,Whitney, P = 0.025), but we could not find any association between GDF and tumor location, proliferation index, diagnosis or age of the patient. There was no relationship between 1p status and GDF, but tumors with MYCN amplification had a slightly higher GDF. MYCN amplification might in some way contribute to genomic instability of neuroblastomas. [source]