Abstract:
Objective The present study aimed to study the clinical characteristics of mediastinal neuroblastoma.
Methods From March 2008 to September 2012, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University admitted 110 cases of neuroblastoma, including 26 cases of mediastinal neuroblastoma and 84 cases of other neuroblastomas. The clinical manifestation, tumor markers, and biological prognostic factors of mediastinal neuroblastoma were compared with those of other neuroblastomas.
Results The average age of patients in the mediastinal neuroblastoma group was 25.5 months, which was very similar to other neuroblastomas. About 88.5% of mediastinal neuroblastomas had newly diagnosed syndrome, and the corresponding value was 60.7% in other neuroblastomas (P < 0.05). The early-stage (Ⅰ and Ⅱ) cases in the mediastinal neuroblastoma group were 34.6%, higher than that in the other neuroblastomas, i.e., 8.3% (P < 0.05). About 21.4% of the serum NSE levels of the mediastinal neuroblastoma group increased by >100 ng/ L, which was lower than the 86.1% (P < 0.05) in other neuroblastomas. All cases of mediastinal neuroblastoma had an N-myc copy number < 10, whereas 23.1% of the other neuroblastomas had >10 copies (P < 0.05). The 4-year overall survival rate was 80.0% in the mediastinal group and 44.0% in the other neuroblastomas. Among the cases involving primary tumors in localized neuroblastomas, the 4-year survival rate was 100%, which was significantly higher than the 82.0% in other neuroblastomas.
Conclusion The majority of mediastinal neuroblastoma cases found in the early clinical stage had favorable biological prognostic factors that may be associated with the prognosis of mediastinal neuroblastoma.