RAPID DETECTION OF PROGNOSTIC GENETIC-FACTORS IN NEUROBLASTOMA USING FLUORESCENCE IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION ON TUMOR IMPRINTS AND BONE-MARROW SMEARS

A number of biological Factors have been identified which correlate wi th prognosis in neuroblastoma. Among these are genetic aberrations, in cluding ploidy, deletions of chromosome 1p and N-myc amplification. Co nventional methods of detecting these changes, such as tissue culture for karyotyping and Southern blotting, are time-consuming and yield in terpretable results in only a small proportion of cases. We have devel oped interphase fluorescence in situ hybridisation for use on tumour i mprints and bone marrow smears, allowing rapid visualisation of the re levant genetic changes. Valuable prognostic information is therefore a vailable in a few days: the results in our cases were later confirmed by conventional methods. In the foreseeable future it will be possible to define distinct prognostic categories on the basis both of this ge netic information and other parameters, and separate therapeutic strat egies may then be employed for the different patient groups.