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Neuronal src and trk A protooncogene expression in neuroblastomas and patient prognosis
Author(s) -
Matsunaga Tadashi,
Shirasawa Hiroshi,
Enomoto Hideki,
Yoshida Hideo,
Iwai Jun,
Tanabe Masahiro,
Kawamura Kenji,
Etoh Takao,
Ohnuma Naomi
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19980619)79:3<226::aid-ijc3>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - neuroblastoma , cancer research , medicine , oncology , expression (computer science) , biology , pathology , genetics , cell culture , computer science , programming language
Neuroblastomas present a wide variety of clinical and biological behaviors, which are reflected by the heterogeneous expressions of protooncogenes related to the neuronal differentiation and amplification of the N‐ myc gene. High expression of trk A and Ha‐ ras in neuroblastomas has been shown to be associated with an excellent patient outcome. We have previously reported that neuron‐specific src mRNA was increased in chemically differentiated neuroblastoma cell lines and in clinically observed neuroblastomas without N‐ myc amplification. In the present study, to clarify both the value of neuronal c‐srcN2 expression as a prognostic indicator and the significance of the coexpression of these protooncogenes, we examined the expression of 3 alternatively spliced src, trk A and Ha‐ ras in neuroblastoma tissues from 60 patients by competitive RNA‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results indicate that protooncogene expression in neuroblastomas correlated with a favorable outcome for c‐srcN2 and trk A. N‐ myc gene was amplified exclusively in tumors with low levels of trk A. Low expression of c‐srcN2 and trk A might thus characterize different aggressive phenotypes due to different signal transduction pathways of neural differentiation in neuroblastoma. The combined analyses for c‐srcN2 and trk A expression by RNA‐PCR should provide information about the biological phenotype of a neuroblastoma within a short period of time after obtaining tumor material. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 79:226–231, 1998.© 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.