Abstract:
Objective The present study explores MUC3A methylation and evaluates its effects on the prognosis of neuroblastoma (NB).
Methods Fresh frozen primary tumor tissue sections from 44 NB patients were collected consecutively from March 2009 to May 2011. We detected the status of N-MYC amplification and MUC3A methylation in the 44 NB patients by RT-PCR and MSP.
Results MUC3A is methylated by 79.55% (35/44), and the DNA methylation pattern is intimately correlated with age, INSS stage, and pathology type (P < 0.05) in NB. Methylation in the low-risk group (38.46%) was significantly less than that in the intermediate-risk group (100%) and high-risk group (92.31%). As expected, the risk of methylation was higher in the MYCN-amplified patients (RR = 1.46, P < 0.005).
Conclusion Methylation in the poor prognosis NB of MUC3A is high. Based on its correlation with MYCN gene amplification, methylation of MUC3A, as a factor of poor prognosis, has clinical significance in the prognostic evaluation of NB.