Comparison of Hematological Aspects between Neuroblastoma Patients with and without Bone Marrow Infiltration

Bone marrow involvement in neuroblastoma indicates an advanced stage of the disease. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the bone marrow infiltration status and hematological parameters of 111 cases of neuroblastoma. Among the 111 cases, 62 (55.9%) exhibited marrow infiltration. Erythrocytopenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia were significantly (p<0.05) associated with marrow infiltration of >10% malignant cells. The evaluation of blood cell count parameters with receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that erythrocytopenia can substantially improve the accurate prediction of the risk of bone marrow involvement with a Youden index of 0.60. The sensitivity and specificity were 90% and 70%, respectively, which correspond to a cut-off value of 4.015×10^12/L. Hematological aspects with diagnostic value are different among neuroblastoma patients with and without bone marrow infiltration.