Ganglioside composition of human neuroblastomas. Correlation with prognosis. A Pediatric Oncology Group Study

The ganglioside composition of neuroblastoma samples from 53 patients was determined. Tumor sites included the adrenals (15), and the thoracic (20), abdominal (15), and pelvic (3) areas. Age of the patients at the time of surgery ranged from 1 day to over 10 years and the Stage of the tumors from A to D. Differences in ganglioside patterns were observed, with neuroblastomas from patients who were either disease positive or dead of disease tending to have more monosialogangliosides and fewer gangliotetraose gangliosides of the B series (formula; see text) than tumors from patients who were disease-free. More specifically, six of the seven patients lacking GT1b died of disease, suggesting that the absence of GT1b is indicative of a poor prognosis.