Flow cytometric analysis of DNA content in children with neuroblastoma

Flow cytometric DNA content analyses were performed in a retrospective study of archival tumor specimens of 15 patients with diagnosed neuroblastoma treated at a single institution. Survival statistics were positively influenced by the presence of aneuploidy. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated a significant survival advantage for patients with aneuploid tumors (P = .036). Survivors were significantly younger at the time of diagnosis than nonsurvivors, but age at diagnosis did not correlate with DNA content. We conclude that DNA content analysis may be of value in determining the prognosis for children with neuroblastoma.