Activation of PI3K/AKT pathway correlates with poor prognosis in patients with neuroblastoma. Our previous studies have demonstrated that PI3K/AKT signaling is critical for the oncogenic transformations induced by gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and its receptor, GRP-R, in neuroblastoma. Moreover, PI3K/AKT-dependent oncogenic transformations require N-myc, an extensively studied oncogene in neu...

Despite intensive treatment regimens, high-risk and late-stage neuroblastoma tends to have a poor survival outcome. Overexpression of the apoptotic regulator, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), has been associated with chemotherapy resistance in several cancers including neuroblastoma. Here, we report preclinical evidence that XIAP offers an effective therapeutic target in neurobla...

PURPOSE High-risk neuroblastoma remains a therapeutic challenge for pediatric oncologists. The Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is highly expressed in many human cancers and is a target of the novel small-molecule inhibitor BI 2536, which has shown promising anticancer activity in adult malignancies. Here, we investigated the effect of BI 2536 on neuroblastoma cells in vitro and in vivo to explore PLK...

Background/aim Neuroblastoma is the most common childhood extracranial solid malignancy. Although cancer cells need iron and lipids for active cell division, possible links between lipid metabolism in neuroblastomas have not been studied. Materials methods We evaluated levels association cholesterol on vitro neuroblastoma models. Results found that of are diverse among lines. There a bi-directi...

Neuroblastoma is an embryonal tumor accounting for approximately 15% of childhood cancer deaths. There exists a clinical need to identify novel therapeutic targets, particularly for treatment-resistant forms of neuroblastoma. Therefore, we investigated the role of the neuronal master regulator GSK3 in controlling neuroblastoma cell fate. We identified novel GSK3-mediated regulation of MYC (c-MY...

AIMS To test the hypothesis that the abnormal fibrous stroma of bone marrow found after treatment of disseminated neuroblastoma represents traumatic scarring. METHODS Twenty six restaging bone marrow biopsy specimens from 14 children with disseminated neuroblastoma were compared with 37 from 37 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. They were assessed independently by two observers for ...

UNLABELLED Neuroblastoma is the most commonly diagnosed solid tumour outside the central nervous system in children. However, genetic factors underlying neuroblastoma remain largely unclear. Previous genome-wide association study indicated that lin-28 homolog B (LIN28B) might play an important role in the development of neuroblastoma and also contributed to its poor overall survival. With the p...

Neuroblastoma, a tumor of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, is the most common and deadly extracranial tumor of childhood. The majority of high-risk neuroblastoma exhibit amplification of the MYCN proto-oncogene and increased neoangiogenesis. Both MYCN protein stabilization and angiogenesis are regulated by signaling through receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Therefore, inhibitors of RT...

Introduction: The present study was aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of the two imaging methods of 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (131I-MIBG) and 99mTc-hydrazinonicotinyl-Tyr3-Octreotide (99mTc-HYNIC-TOC) in diagnosis and localization of pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma. Methods: This study ...

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumour of infancy. Pathological activation of glucose consumption, glycolysis and glycolysis-activating Akt kinase occur frequently in neuroblastoma cells, and these changes correlate with poor prognosis of patients. Therefore, several inhibitors of glucose utilization and the Akt kinase activity are in preclinical trials as potential anti-can...