Abstract
BACKGROUND: The objective of the work was detection of amplification of oncogenes N-MYC, N-RAS, C-ERB A, C-ERB B and adaptor tyrosine kinase Shb in a group of 92 child age tumours in an attempt to reveal clinical and histopathological associations. METHODS AND RESULTS: Amplifications of oncogenes were detected by means of Southern's transfer, hybridization with labelled probes and densitometric evaluation.
Amplification of the N-MYC oncogene in child tumours can be considered a manifestation of progression of the disease with an adverse prognosis, in particular in neuroblastomas, where it corresponds also with the adverse histological finding. In a group of sarcomas N-MYC amplification was detected in advanced clinical stages, while in malignant lymphogranulomas of the Hodgkin type it was not found.
In Wilms tumour it was detected sporadically. Amplifications of oncogenes ERB A and ERB B are rare, amplifications of the oncogene RAS were not observed.
Coamplifications characterized progression of the disease, in case of neuroblastoma even very short survival. In hepatic malignancies oncogene amplification was not found even in advanced stages.
CONCLUSIONS: Oncogene amplification characterizes progression in a number of child tumours and its application in clinical oncology is prognostically useful.