Prognostic indicators for neuroblastoma: Stage, grade, DNA ploidy, MIB‐1‐proliferation index, p53, HER‐2/neu and EGFr–a survival study

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Abstract
Neuroblastoma, a tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, is one of the most common solid malignancies in infants and represents 7% of all cases of childhood cancer outside of the central nervous system. Thirty‐five samples of neuroblastoma from 31 patients were obtained from Duke University Medical Center between 1979 and 1991 and studied to determine the relative prognostic value of a number of clinical, histologic, nuclear, and oncogenic features. The features studied were: stage, Shimada classification, DNA ploidy, MIB‐1‐proliferation index and status for HER‐2/neu, p53 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr). Only age (P = .03), HER‐2/neu (P = .01), and p53 (P = .02) reached statistical significance as prognostic indicators. The median survival for patients with no HER‐2/neu expression was 12 months; median survival for patients with no HER‐2/neu expression was 138 months. Similary, the median survival for patients with p53 expression was 12 months; patients with no p53 expression had a median survival was 144 months. The combination of either HER‐2/neu or p53 positivity was especially strong as a prognostic indicator (p = .002).