The relationship between the telomorase activity in neuroblastoma with prognosis

ABSTRACT The Relationship Between The Telomorase Activity In Neuroblastoma With Prognosis Objective: Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood, originating from embryonal neural crest cells in the adrenal medulla and sympathetic ganglia. Due to its variable biological structure, it shows different clinical and biological features. Demonstration of new factors that will explain this state of the tumor will contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of neuroblastoma. The telomerase enzyme is thought to play an important role in the ability of cells to gain immortality or to reach unlimited reproductive capacity. In our retrospective study with 87 patients, we aimed to investigate the effect of telomerase activity on sex, age, stage, risk group, relapse, VMA, myc-n amplification, survival and event-free survival. Material and Method: This study was carried out by examining telomerase activity in previously taken pathology preparations of 87 patients who were diagnosed with neuroblastoma between 2011 and 2019 in the Pediatric Oncology Department of Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine. The information of the patients included in the study was recorded from the files and automation system. Ethics committee approval was obtained. Results: Totally 87 patients, 46 males (52.9%) and 41 females (47.1%), were included in our study. The most common age at the time of diagnosis of the disease was 3.39 ± 3.04 years. Twenty-three (26.4%) patients included in the study had telomerase activity, 64 (73.6%) had no telomerase activity. In the patients included in our study, the survival of patients with telomerase activity up to 8 years were 84%, while the probability of survival without events was 56%. Patients without telomerase activity had a 93% survival rate for up to 8 years, while the probability of survival without events was 70%. There was no significant relationship between patients with or without telomerase activity in terms of sex (p = 0.1), age (p = 0.54), stage (p = 0.600), risk group (p = 0.451), relapse (p = 0.484), myc- n mutation (p = 0.855), survival (p = 0.112) and event-free survival (p = 0.222). Conclusion: In this study, no significant difference was found between telomerase activity and clinical features and survival of neuroblastoma patients. Keywords: Neuroblastoma, Telomerase activity