A significant association of Ha-ras p21 in neuroblastoma cells with patient prognosis. A retrospective study of 103 cases

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Abstract
To evaluate biologic characteristics of neuroblastoma, the authors examined the expression of Ha‐ras gene (Ha‐ras p21) in 103 primary tumors obtained at the time of diagnosis. Higher expression of the Ha‐ras p21 in tumor cells showed a significant association with lower clinical stage of the tumor at diagnosis (chisquare = 35.418, degrees of freedom [df] = 9, P P ras p21 expression died of aggressive disease. The Ha‐ras DNA was examined in the 32 tumors by Southern blot analysis. Neither augmentation nor deletion of the Ha‐ras DNA was observed. Amplification of the N‐myc DNA was also examined in 43 cases in comparison with Ha‐ras p21 expression. N‐myc amplification was detected in 12 (55%) of 22 patients who died, and 19 (86%) of the 22 patients showed a low expression of the Ha‐ras p21 in tumor cells. Eighteen (86%) of 21 survivors showed a high expression of the Ha‐ras p21. The expression of Ha‐ras p21 was thought to be a clinically important marker for prognosis in children with neuroblastoma.