@Article{or.2026.081326,
AUTHOR = {Małgorzata Mitura-Lesiuk, Kamil Górecki, Katarzyna Witczak, Aleksandra Greluk, Julia Zarychta, Maciej Dubaj},
TITLE = {Diagnosis and Risk Assessment in Neuroblastoma: Current Evidence and a Pilot Retrospective Study},
JOURNAL = {Oncology Research},
VOLUME = {},
YEAR = {},
NUMBER = {},
PAGES = {{pages}},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/or/online/detail/28401},
ISSN = {1555-3906},
ABSTRACT = {<b>Background:</b> Neuroblastoma (NB) is a heterogeneous pediatric malignancy requiring accurate risk stratification. This study explored the relationship between conventional biomarkers and disease characteristics in a pediatric NB cohort and contextualized these findings with emerging evidence on non-coding RNA (ncRNA) biomarkers. <b>Methods:</b> We retrospectively analyzed 17 children with histologically confirmed NB treated at a single center. Associations between ferritin, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), disease stage, and N-Myc proto-oncogene (MYCN) amplification were evaluated using nonparametric methods and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Recent evidence on ncRNA biomarkers in NB was additionally reviewed. <b>Results:</b> Ferritin showed exploratory discriminatory potential for advanced disease (International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) stage IV/IVs vs. I–III), with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41–1.00). A ROC-derived threshold of 322 ng/mL was identified for hypothesis-generating purposes. Ferritin was higher in the two MYCN-amplified cases, although the subgroup was too small for statistical inference, and correlated weakly with NSE (ρ = 0.29, <i>p</i> = 0.037). The literature review identified ncRNAs associated with aggressive and MYCN-driven NB phenotypes, supporting their potential role in future risk assessment. <b>Conclusions:</b> Ferritin may complement established markers in NB risk assessment, although these preliminary findings require validation in larger cohorts. Combining conventional biomarkers with ncRNA-based signatures may represent a promising strategy for future multimodal risk stratification.},
DOI = {10.32604/or.2026.081326}
}