Neuroblastoma Patients’ Outcome and Chromosomal Instability

Chromosomal instability (CIN) induces a high rate of losses or gains of whole chromosomes or parts of chromosomes. It is a hallmark of most human cancers and one of the causes of aneuploidy and intra-tumor heterogeneity. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential prognostic role of CIN in NB...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marzia Ognibene, Patrizia De Marco, Loredana Amoroso, Martina Fragola, Federico Zara, Stefano Parodi, Annalisa Pezzolo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/21/15514
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Summary:Chromosomal instability (CIN) induces a high rate of losses or gains of whole chromosomes or parts of chromosomes. It is a hallmark of most human cancers and one of the causes of aneuploidy and intra-tumor heterogeneity. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential prognostic role of CIN in NB patients at diagnosis. We performed array comparative genomic hybridization analyses on 451 primary NB patients at the onset of the disease. To assess global chromosomal instability with high precision, we focused on the total number of DNA breakpoints of gains or losses of chromosome arms. For each tumor, an array-CGH-based breakpoint instability index (BPI) was assigned which defined the total number of chromosomal breakpoints per genome. This approach allowed us to quantify CIN related to whole genome disruption in all NB cases analyzed. We found differences in chromosomal breakages among the NB clinical risk groups. High BPI values are negatively associated with survival of NB patients. This association remains significant when correcting for stage, age, and <i>MYCN</i> status in the Cox model. Stratified analysis confirms the prognostic effect of BPI index in low-risk NB patients with non-amplified <i>MYCN</i> and with segmental chromosome aberrations.
ISSN:1661-6596
1422-0067