To investigate the relationship of morphologic appearance with other parameters such as age at diagnosis, primary site and clinical stage in regard to the prognosis, we examined a total of 20 neuroblastomas of various sites from children undergoing treatment at the Catholic University of Rome and Regina Elena Cancer Institute of Rome. We used a histopathologic classification, developed by Shimada et al. (JNCI, 1984), based on the presence of Schwann cells and ganglio-neuromatous component, neuroblastic maturation and transition to ganglionic forms, and number of mitotic and karyor-rhetic nuclei. We observed a 100% 2-year survival for patients in the favorable groups (13 patients) and 0% 2-year survival for children (7 patients) in the group with unfavorable histology. Furthermore, immunohistochemical evaluation of neural markers such as NSE, S-100 protein and neurofilaments offered additional important information. Our results confirm that the combination of pathologic, immunohistochemical and clinical criteria can be usefully employed to predict the outcome of neuroblastomas.
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