Annals of Surgical Oncology Cite Track
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
10.1245/s10434-007-9608-0
Annals of Surgical Oncology 14:3575-3580 (2007)
© 2007 Society of Surgical Oncology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wachowiak, R.
Right arrow Articles by Izbicki, J. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Wachowiak, R.
Right arrow Articles by Izbicki, J. R.

Original Article

L1 Is Associated With Favorable Outcome in Neuroblastomas in Contrast to Adult Tumors

Robin Wachowiak, MD1, Henning C. Fiegel, MD1, Jussuf T. Kaifi, MD2, Alexander Quaas, MD3, Annika Krickhahn, MS1, Paulus G. Schurr, MD2, Rudolf Erttmann, MD4, Melitta Schachner, PhD5, Dietrich Kluth, MD1, Guido Sauter, MD3 and Jakob R. Izbicki, MD2

1 Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Medical Center, Liebigstraße 20a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
2 Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
3 Institute for Pathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
4 Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
5 Center for Molecular Neurobiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Robin Wa-chowiak, MD; E-mail: rwachowiak{at}gmx.de

Background: Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor in childhood with unconventional clinical behavior. L1, a neuronal cell adhesion molecule, is associated with poor survival in malignant adult tumors. The aim of the current study was to determine expression of L1 in pediatric neuroblastoma.

Methods: L1 expression was assessed on a tissue microarray with 66 surgically resected neuroblastoma samples by immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody and peroxidase method. Additionally, mRNA expression was analyzed by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction with L1-specific primers. Data were correlated survival data by log rank test and Cox regression multivariate analysis.

Results: L1 was detected in 57 (86%) of 66 neuroblastomas, whereas 9 (14%) were L1 negative. Median survival of all children was 72 months. Analysis with Kaplan-Meier method revealed a surprising and contrary finding to adult tumor entities: an association of L1 positivity with better event-free and overall survival (P < .001 and P < .01 by log rank test). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed an independent prognostic impact of L1 negativity for event-free and overall survival of the children (P < .05).

Conclusions: In contrast to adult tumor entities, where L1 is associated with aggressive clinical behavior, our data show that L1 predicts good outcome in children with neuroblastoma. This novel finding suggests an inverse role of L1 in neuroblastoma. Future studies might focus on the molecular basis of the varying effect of L1 in different tumors.

Key Words: Neuroblastoma • Childhood cancer • L1 • Prognostic marker






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by the Society of Surgical Oncology.