Striking dichotomy in outcome of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma in the contemporary era.

The authors exploited a large database to investigate the outcomes of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma in the contemporary era. All patients with high-risk neuroblastoma aged <12 years who were treated during induction at the authors' institution from 2000 through 2011 were studied, including 118 patients with MYCN-amplified [MYCN(+)] disease and 127 patients aged >18 months with MYCN-nonamplified [MYCN(-)] stage 4 disease. A complete response/very good partial response (CR/VGPR) to induction was correlated with significantly superior event-free survival (EFS) (P < .001) and overall survival (OS) (P < .001) compared with a partial response or less. Patients with MYCN(+) and MYCN(-) disease had similar rates of CR/VGPR to induction (P = .366), and those with MYCN(+) and MYCN(-) disease who attained a CR/VGPR had similar EFS (P = .346) and OS (P = .542). In contrast, only MYCN(+) patients had progressive disease as a response to induction (P < .001), and early death from progressive disease (<366 days after diagnosis) was significantly more common (P < .001) among those with MYCN(+) disease. Overall, among patients who had a partial response or less, MYCN(+) patients had significantly inferior EFS (P < .001) and OS (P < .001) compared with MYCN(-) patients, which accounted for the significantly worse EFS (P = .008) and OS (P = .002) for the entire MYCN(+) cohort versus the MYCN(-) cohort. Patients with MYCN(-), high-risk neuroblastoma display a broad, continuous spectrum with regard to response and outcome, whereas MYCN(+) patients either have an excellent response to induction associated with good long-term outcome or develop early progressive disease with a poor outcome. This extreme dichotomy in the clinical course of MYCN(+) patients points to underlying biologic differences with MYCN(+) neuroblastoma, the elucidation of which may have far-reaching implications, including improved risk classification at diagnosis and the identification of targets for treatment.

Kushner BH ，Modak S ，Kramer K ，LaQuaglia MP ，Yataghene K ，Basu EM ，Roberts SS ，Cheung NK ... -  《-》

Significance of MYCN amplification in international neuroblastoma staging system stage 1 and 2 neuroblastoma: a report from the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group database.

Bagatell R ，Beck-Popovic M ，London WB ，Zhang Y ，Pearson AD ，Matthay KK ，Monclair T ，Ambros PF ，Cohn SL ，International Neuroblastoma Risk Group ... -  《-》

Outcomes of children with intermediate-risk neuroblastoma after treatment stratified by MYCN status and tumor cell ploidy.

Bagatell R ，Rumcheva P ，London WB ，Cohn SL ，Look AT ，Brodeur GM ，Frantz C ，Joshi V ，Thorner P ，Rao PV ，Castleberry R ，Bowman LC ... -  《JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY》

Management and outcome of stage 3 neuroblastoma.

Modak S ，Kushner BH ，LaQuaglia MP ，Kramer K ，Cheung NK ... -  《-》

Clinical significance of MYCN amplification and ploidy in favorable-stage neuroblastoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Schneiderman J ，London WB ，Brodeur GM ，Castleberry RP ，Look AT ，Cohn SL ... -  《-》