Gallium scan as a prognostic indicator in neuroblastoma

Gallium-67 scan results were correlated with the long-term clinical course in ten children with neuroblastoma. The four patients whose primary tumor did not accumulate gallium have exhibited a significantly better survival time (mean duration 68.2 months) as compared to the six patients with gallium-positive tumors (mean duration 16.6 months, P < 0.001). This difference in survival was not explainable on the basis of accepted prognostic indicators, such as age of patient or stage of disease at initial diagnosis. These results indicate that gallium uptake may be a useful prognostic indicator in children with neuroblastoma, independent of other variables.