N-myc oncogene amplification and prognostic factors of neuroblastoma in children

The N-myc oncogene of 28 neuroblastic tumors obtained from 16 untreated and 12 pretreated children was clinically evaluated and compared with known prognostic factors. Significant amplification of the N-myc (more than ten copies) was observed in 0 of 2 tumors in stage I, 1 of 5 in stage II, 2 of 6 in stage III, 6 of 9 in stage IV, and 2 of 6 in stage IVS. In stages II, III, IV, and IVS, all 15 patients with low N-myc amplification (under ten copies) are alive without disease, while among 11 patients with the amplification, seven died with progressive disease and two have a recurrence (P less than .01). All tumors with N-myc amplification originated from the suprarenal region and the amplification appeared in 55% of those from that origin. The amplification also correlated with the age factor. These results suggest that the genomic amplification of N-myc seems to be correlated with known prognostic factors of neuroblastoma, and may be a reliable factor even in the case of preoperatively treated tumors.