Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Flow cytometry is a useful technique for detecting surface antigens on cells in suspension, particularly lymphoid cells in blood or disaggregated lymphoid tissue. It is eminently suited to the diagnosis of lymphoma, but its use in differentiating brain tumors depends on better definition of tumor cell surface antigens. Flow cytometry's best application is in measuring cellular DNA content and proliferative activity of tumor cells, and, therefore, it can readily detect whether a tumor is diploid or aneuploid. Clinical correlations of aneuploidy in astrocytomas are still controversial, but there is significant evidence relating aneuploidy to a favorable prognosis in patients with neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. Studies in which the proliferation fraction was assessed by means of BUdR incorporation or using the monoclonal antibody Ki-67 indicate a marked correlation with biological behavior in a variety of brain tumors.
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PMID:Flow cytometry in the diagnosis of brain tumors. 812 88

The prognostic significance of the immunohistochemically assessed growth fraction in neuroblastomas was determined in relation to tumor grade and tumor stage. A total of 101 cases of neuroblastoma were examined with the monoclonal antibodies PC10 against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-S5 against the Ki-67 protein. Patients were followed for a mean time of 4.8 years. Expression of both PC10 and Ki-S5 was found to be significantly linked to tumor grade and tumor stage. Prognostically favorable stage IVs was associated with low PCNA and Ki-S5 levels. For ganglioneuroblastoma, significant differences were found between the diffuse and the composite type. In univariate analysis of stage III and IV tumors, Ki-S5 and PCNA scores were significantly correlated with disease-free survival (P < 0.0015), allowing definition of a subset of cases with favorable outcome. As to Shimada's group with poor prognosis, significant differences in the clinical course were found for low and high Ki-S5 scores (P = 0.036) but not for PCNA. In multivariate analysis, only patient age, Shimada's grade, and Ki-S5 scores achieved prognostic significance. We conclude that proliferation marker Ki-S5 may provide substantial prognostic information and might become a useful adjunct for predicting the clinical courses of neuroblastoma.
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PMID:Prognostic significance of the proliferative activity in neuroblastoma. 900 30

Neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAMs) are expressed in neuromuscular tissues, neuroblastoma, and small cell lung carcinoma. Adenoid cystic carcinoma may invade the skull by either direct extension or neural involvement, particularly along the second and third divisions of the trigeminal nerve (V2 and V3). Eighteen patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma that invaded the skull base were studied. The tumors were graded into predominantly solid (3), cribriform (11), or tubular-trabecular (4) patterns, and neural involvement was evaluated histologically. Paraffin sections were examined by use of monoclonal antibodies for N-CAM and Ki-67, a proliferation marker, with the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method. Fifteen (83%) tumors showed perineural involvement; in the remaining three cases no nerves were present for histologic examination. Fourteen (93%) of 15 tumors with perineural involvement were reactive with N-CAM. Proliferation, measured by the presence of nuclear Ki-67, was markedly increased in tumors with predominantly solid patterns. We demonstrated that N-CAM is expressed in adenoid cystic carcinoma. The role of N-CAM as a neurodeterminant that facilitates the spread of adenoid cystic carcinoma along nerves, however, remains unanswered and warrants further study.
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PMID:Neural cell adhesion molecule in adenoid cystic carcinoma invading the skull base. 937 66

The aim of this study was the evaluation of p53/MDM-2 protein overexpression in different subtypes of human sarcomas, and their correlation with proliferative activity and patient outcome. We selected 40 cases of human sarcomas comprising 6 malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFH), 1 fibrosarcoma, 1 dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, 5 liposarcomas, 9 leiomyosarcomas, 1 rhabdomyosarcoma, 3 synovial sarcomas, 2 osteosarcomas, 1 chondrosarcoma, 4 Ewing's sarcomas, 2 Kaposi's sarcomas, 1 malignant haemangiopericytoma, 1 phylloides cystosarcoma, 1 neuroblastoma, 1 chordoma and 1 unclassified sarcoma. All the immunohistochemical markers, which had been used for the characterization of these sarcomas were re-examined. Additionally, the Streptavidin-Biotin peroxidase method was performed on paraffin sections using the monoclonal antibodies: anti-p53 antibody DO7, anti-MDM-2 antibody IF2 and anti-Ki-67 antibody MIB-1. According to our results, p53 protein nuclear expression was detected in 20% (8/40) of the tumours (1 fibrosarcoma, 2 liposarcomas, 1 leiomyosarcoma, 1 rhabdomyosarcoma, 2 Ewing's sarcomas and 1 unclassified sarcoma). MDM-2 nuclear staining was determined in 7.5% (3/40) of the cases (1 MFH and 2 liposarcomas). A high proliferative index was demonstrated in 27.5% (11/40) of the tumours (2 MFH, 4 leiomyosarcomas, 1 rhabdomyosarcoma, 1 osteosarcoma, 2 Ewing's sarcomas and 1 unclassified sarcoma). p53 overexpression was associated with high tumour grade (p < 0.05) and MIB-1 expression was correlated with reduced survival (p < 0.05), but p53 overexpression was not significantly associated with either MIB-1 score or with overall survival of the patients. In conclusion, from this limited and heterogeneous sample of cases, we suggest that the p53/MDM-2 pathway is involved in the tumourigenesis of several sarcoma subtypes, but it is unclear if the overexpression of these genes may become prognostic marker for patients affected with these highly aggressive tumours.
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PMID:p53/MDM-2 immunohistochemical expression correlated with proliferative activity in different subtypes of human sarcomas: a ten-year follow-up study. 989 39

B -Catenin is closely associated with carcinoma invasion/metastasis and poor survival. Recent studies have demonstrated that abnormal expression of B -catenin, especially its nuclear accumulation, also plays an important role in wingless/Wnt signaling pathway. In this study, we evaluated immunohistochemically the nuclear localization of B -catenin in a total of 93 human-endocrine-related tumors including 1 medullary carcinoma (thyroid gland), 12 parathyroid tumors, 22 carcinoid tumors (digestive tract and liver), 7 islet cell tumors, 26 adrenocortical tumors, 13 neuroblastoma (adrenal gland), and 12 pheochromocytoma (adrenal gland), and also studied genetic alterations of the B -catenin gene. Nuclear accumulation of B -catenin was frequently detected in 8 of 22 (36%) carcinoid tumors and 2 of 7 (29%) islet cell tumors. No genetic alteration in exon 3 of the B -catenin gene encoding serine/threonine rich domain, which was phosphorylated by GSK-3 B, was detected in any groups of the endocrine tumors. However, nuclear accumulation of B -catenin in carcinoid tumors was significantly correlated with the proliferative marker Ki-67 (MIB-1) labeling index (p <0.001). Our findings suggest that nuclear transfer and accumulation of the B -catenin may contribute in the tumorigenesis of carcinoid tumor as an oncoprotein.
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PMID:Nuclear Accumulation of B-Catenin in Human Endocrine Tumors: Association with Ki-67 (MIB-1) Proliferative Activity. 1211 96

Peripheral neuroblastic tumors (PNT), are heterogeneous neoplasms that include neuroblastoma (NB), ganglioneuroblastoma (GNB) and ganglioneuroma (GN) and present great biological heterogeneity. There are few reports analyzing PCNA and Ki-67 expression in PNT; however, controversy exists concerning the specificity of PCNA as a real proliferative marker. The objective of our study was to determine which of these cellular proliferation markers is more specific on cellular cycle and could contribute with more information on the cell cycle. We found that PCNA was expressed in NB unfavourable cases, with MYCN amplification and high mitosis-karyorrhexis-index (MKI). Whereas, Ki-67 showed statistical significance regarding cases unfavourable with intermediate and high MKI, aneuploid and stages 3 and 4. Survival showed that patients with tumor not expressing Ki-67 (MIB1) lived longer than those without PCNA (88.93 vs 74.05%). We conclude that Ki-67 expression permits reliable detection of the cellular proliferation neuroblastoma fraction and provides useful prognostic information when associated with other biological factors.
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PMID:Prognostic significance of cell proliferation in human neuroblastoma: comparison with other prognostic factors. 1246 76

In an effort to clarify the role of telomerase in the pathogenesis of pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas, and to test whether its component could serve as a marker of malignancy, we measured telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) mRNA in 31 human pheochromocytoma tissue samples (5 malignant, 23 benign and 3 suspected malignant) and 16 neuroblastoma tissues (9 unfavorable and 7 favorable). All cases were classified by both the clinical course and histopathological examination. Malignancy was defined as the presence of metastasis and/or extensive local invasion. TERT mRNA was determined by nested PCR and a real-time PCR system (LightCycler). By nested PCR methods, 5 of the 5 malignant pheochromocytoma samples were positive (sensitivity = 100%), and 21 of 23 benign pheochromocytoma samples were negative (specificity = 91%) in pheochromocytomas. Four out of five malignant tumors were positive for either hTERT expression or Ki-67/MIB-1 immunoreactivity. In the neuroblastoma tissues, 9 of the 9 unfavorable samples were positive (sensitivity = 100%), and only 2 of 7 favorable samples were negative (specificity = 29%). We also determined the expression of the hTERT mRNA by real-time PCR to quantitate the mRNA. The mean values of hTERT mRNA by real time PCR in benign and malignant pheochromocytomas were 2 and 26 arbitrary units (AU), respectively. The difference was not significant by the U-test. The mean values of hTERT mRNA in favorable and unfavorable neuroblastoma were 203 and 497 AU, respectively. This difference was also not significant (U-test). N-Myc mRNA expression correlated with the expression of hTERT mRNA in the neuroblastoma samples (r = 0.534, p = 0.0317). Thus, hTERT mRNA might be a potential marker for estimating the malignancy of pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas.
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PMID:Expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase in pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma tissues. 1500 8

In the developing brain, neuronal differentiation is associated with permanent exit from the mitotic cycle. This raises the possibility that neuronal differentiation may suppress proliferative activity, even in neoplastic cells. As a first step towards understanding the relation between neuronal differentiation and mitotic cycling in brain tumours, we studied the expression of NeuN (a neuronal marker) and Ki-67 (a mitotic marker) by double-labelling immuno-fluorescence in 16 brain tumours with neuronal differentiation. The tumours included a series of 11 central neurocytomas, and five single cases of other tumour types. In the central neurocytomas, NeuN(+) cells had a 15-fold lower Ki-67 labelling index, on average, than did NeuN(-) cells (P < 0.01). In the other tumours (one extraventricular neurocytoma, one desmoplastic medulloblastoma, one olfactory neuroblastoma, one ganglioglioma and one anaplastic ganglioglioma), the Ki-67 labelling index was always at least fourfold lower in NeuN(+) cells than in NeuN(-) cells. These results indicate that neuronal differentiation is associated with a substantial decrease of proliferative activity in neoplastic cells of central neurocytomas, and suggest that the same may be true across diverse types of brain tumours. However, tumours with extensive neuronal differentiation may nevertheless have a high overall Ki-67 labelling index, if the mitotic activity of NeuN(-) cells is high. The correlation between NeuN expression and reduced mitotic activity in neurocytoma cells is consistent with the hypothesis that neuronal differentiation suppresses proliferation, but further studies will be necessary to determine causality and investigate underlying mechanisms.
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PMID:NeuN expression correlates with reduced mitotic index of neoplastic cells in central neurocytomas. 1600 27

Previous studies have shown frequent mutations in the BRAF (V-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1) or NRAS (neuroblastoma RAS viral [V-ras] oncogene homolog) genes in cutaneous melanoma, but the relationship between these alterations and tumor cell proliferation has not been examined in human melanoma. In our study of 51 primary nodular melanomas and 18 paired metastases, we found mutations in BRAF (codon 600, previously denoted 599) in 15 primary tumors (29%) and eight metastases (44%). The figures for NRAS mutations were 27% and 22%, respectively. Mutations in BRAF and NRAS genes were mutually exclusive in all but one case, and were maintained from primary tumors through their metastases. Mutations, however, were not associated with tumor cell proliferation by Ki-67 expression, tumor thickness, microvessel density, or vascular invasion, and there were no differences in patient survival. Although BRAF and NRAS mutations are likely to be important for the initiation and maintenance of some melanomas, other factors might be more significant for proliferation and prognosis in subgroups of aggressive melanoma.
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PMID:BRAF and NRAS mutations are frequent in nodular melanoma but are not associated with tumor cell proliferation or patient survival. 1609 42

Since neuroblastomas are intratumorally heterogeneous, the analysis of genetic and biologic features of randomly selected tumor specimen spots may lead to erroneous conclusions. Our purpose was therefore to construct an easily assessable and strictly defined strategy to unify the detection of various molecular markers in paraffin-embedded neuroblastoma samples. We selected tumor specimen spots of highest proliferation activity, that is, hotspots, for the analysis of MYCN amplification status and proliferation-associated molecular markers, such as nestin, which role in neuroblastoma specimens was evaluated for the first time. Using a chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) technique, we showed that patients with a MYCN copy number higher than six in anti-Ki-67-detected hotspots have significantly worse overall survival prognosis than patients with low MYCN copy numbers (P = 0.0006). The chosen cutoff value of six was shown to dichotomize MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas at least as specifically as Southern blot hybridization, in which amplification was defined by a copy number of > or = 10. Interestingly, we also detected without difficulty MYCN-amplified neuroblastic cells in bone marrow samples using the CISH technique. The proliferation activity, assessed with an anti-Ki-67-based proliferation index, was significantly higher in MYCN-amplified than in nonamplified hotspots. The proliferation indices of the hotspots had also a significant correlation with the prognosis (International Classification) and histological type, whereas the proliferation accelerator Id2 did not associate with any of the mentioned parameters. The expression of nestin associated inversely with MYCN amplification (P = 0.018), which challenges a previously suggested role of nestin in neuroblastomas. In summary, hotspot focusing provides a means of analyzing proliferation-associated markers in neuroblastomas, and together with the CISH detection of the MYCN copy number enables an easy and reliable examination of MYCN status in neuroblastomas.
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PMID:Chromogenic in situ hybridization-detected hotspot MYCN amplification associates with Ki-67 expression and inversely with nestin expression in neuroblastomas. 1625 18


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