1 Cytology Service, Department of Pathology, and the Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases; and from the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, New York
Cytogenetic studies were performed on 21 children with neuroblastoma. Increased numbers of abnormal metaphases were observed in pretreatment samples of peripheral blood and bone marrow. Three bone marrows infiltrated with extrinsic cells had heteroploid cell lines with consistent marker chromosomes. Long-term survivors without evidence of active disease had chromosomal abnormalities in peripheral blood lymphocytes.
These findings evoke questions concerning prognosis, tumor formation, and long-term effects of radiotherapy.
Submitted on August 20, 1970