Evolving significance of prognostic markers associated with treatment improvement in patients with Stage 4 neuroblastoma Journal Article


Authors: Mora, J.; Gerald, W. L.; Qin, J.; Cheung, N. K. V.
Article Title: Evolving significance of prognostic markers associated with treatment improvement in patients with Stage 4 neuroblastoma
Abstract: BACKGROUND. With recent improvements in the treatment and outcome of patients with neuroblastoma (NB), the authors reassessed the prognostic importance of clinical and biologic markers in patients with Stage 4 NB who were treated at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). METHODS. The authors analyzed 84 patients with Stage 4 NB who were treated on the N5, N6, or N7 protocols at MSKCC from 1987 to 1999. The impact on survival of clinical factors (age, serum ferritin, and lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] levels), histopathology (International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classification [INPC]), and tumor biologic markers (MYCN; ploidy; loss of heterozygosity [LOH] at 1p36, 1p22, 11q23, 14q12-q32, 9p21, and 19q13; and gain at 17q) were analyzed in univariate and multivariate models. RESULTS. Forty-six of 84 patients were alive at the time of this report (55%), with a median follow-up of 41 months from the time of diagnosis. In the univariate analysis, there was no prognostic impact on survival by age, serum ferritin and LDH levels, MYCN, 1p36 LOH, 14q32 LOH, or 17q gain. LOH at 11q23 was associated significantly with superior progression free survival (P = 0.04) and survival (P = 0.04) in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, it was found that 11q23 status was the most significant variable associated with overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.99). LOH at 11q23 and LOH at 1p22 were highly correlated (P = 0.02). It was found that 11q23 status and INPC score were the most significant variables associated with progression free survival. CONCLUSIONS. Because patient survival improves with more effective therapy, traditional prognostic markers, such as age, MYCN amplification, and elevated serum LDH levels, have become less important for patients with Stage 4 NB. In the current study, less common chromosomal abnormalities (LOH at 1p22 and 11q23) appeared to assume new importance. © 2002 American Cancer Society.
Keywords: adolescent; adult; cancer survival; child; controlled study; human tissue; treatment outcome; major clinical study; histopathology; advanced cancer; disease marker; follow up; follow-up studies; neoplasm staging; genetic analysis; disease association; gene amplification; tumor markers, biological; chromosome 9p; clinical protocol; age factors; cancer therapy; age; chromosome aberration; infant; neuroblastoma; prognostic factors; lactate dehydrogenase; heterozygosity loss; loss of heterozygosity; lactate dehydrogenase blood level; l-lactate dehydrogenase; chromosome 11q; ferritin; chromosome 17q; chromosome 14q; chromosome 1p; ferritin blood level; ferritins; metastatic neuroblastoma; chromosome 19q; clinical outcome; ploidy; ploidies; prognosis; human; male; female; priority journal; article; allelotype; n5; n6; n7 protocols
Journal Title: Cancer
Volume: 94
Issue: 10
ISSN: 0008-543X
Publisher: Wiley Blackwell  
Date Published: 2002-05-15
Start Page: 2756
End Page: 2765
Language: English
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.10548
PUBMED: 12173347
PROVIDER: scopus
DOI/URL:
Notes: Export Date: 14 November 2014 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Nai-Kong Cheung
    648 Cheung
  2. Jaime Mora
    25 Mora
  3. Jing Qin
    86 Qin
  4. William L Gerald
    375 Gerald