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Poor outcome in patients with advanced stage neuroblastoma and coincident opsomyoclonus syndrome
Author(s) -
Hiyama Eiso,
Yokoyama Takashi,
Ichikawa Toru,
Hiyama Keiko,
Kobayashi Masao,
Tanaka Yoshito,
Ueda Kazuhiro,
Tanaka Yoshiaki,
Yano Hiromichi
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19940915)74:6<1821::aid-cncr2820740627>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - neuroblastoma , n myc , medicine , gene duplication , cancer research , southern blot , gene , flow cytometry , stage (stratigraphy) , oncology , gene expression , pathology , biology , immunology , genetics , ganglioneuroma , cell culture , paleontology
Background. Most patients with neuroblastoma who present with opsomyoclonus have a good prognosis. Neuroblastomas from such patients have been reported to contain a single copy of the N‐myc gene. The authors describe three cases of patients with advanced neuroblastoma with opsomyoclonus, which had poor outcomes despite multimodal therapy. Methods. Amplification and expression of the N‐myc gene were examined in these three primary tumors using Southern and Northern blot analyses. Then, flow cytometric analysis of the cellular DNA contents of these tumors was performed. Results. N‐myc amplitication was observed in two tumors and N‐myc RNA overexpression was observed in all three. Analysis of the cellular DNA contents of the tissue specimens revealed hyperdiploidy in all three tumors; one had a triploid index and the other two had hypotetraploid indexes. Conclusions. These findings suggest that a poor outcome for patients with opsomyoclonus may be associated with N‐myc gene activation (amplification and/or overexpression) and that a hyperdiploid tumor is not always associated with a good prognosis.