Expression of the Neurotrophin Receptor TrkC is Linked to a Favorable Outcome in Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood, has a variable prognosis. Although half of the children and young adults with the disease survive longer than 10 years after diagnosis, the others relapse and die despite identical therapy. We have examined the expression of neurot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1994-12, Vol.91 (26), p.12867-12871
Main Authors: Segal, Rosalind A., Goumnerova, Liliana C., Kwon, Yunhee Kim, Stiles, Charles D., Pomeroy, Scott L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
Cell lines
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease progression
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
Humans
Medical research
Medulloblastoma
Medulloblastoma - diagnosis
Medulloblastoma - metabolism
Messenger RNA
Nerve Growth Factors - genetics
Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics
Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism
Nerves
Neurology
Neurons
Neurotrophin 3
Prognosis
Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - genetics
Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - metabolism
Receptor, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor
Receptor, trkC
Receptors
Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor - genetics
Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor - metabolism
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
RNA, Messenger - genetics
RNA, Neoplasm - genetics
Special relativity
Survival Analysis
Tumors
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Summary:Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood, has a variable prognosis. Although half of the children and young adults with the disease survive longer than 10 years after diagnosis, the others relapse and die despite identical therapy. We have examined the expression of neurotrophins and their receptors in medulloblastoma samples snap frozen in the operating room to preserve RNA integrity. All tumors (n = 12) were found to express mRNA encoding neurotrophin 3 and its receptor TrkC. The level of trkC expression was highly variable, with a more than 50-fold difference between the highest and lowest values. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients with tumors expressing high levels of trkC mRNA had significantly longer intervals without disease progression than those with low levels (log-rank, P = 0.03) and a more favorable overall survival (log-rank, P = 0.05). Thus, trkC expression is a prognostic indicator for patients with medulloblastoma.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.91.26.12867