TY - EJOU
AU - Mitura-Lesiuk, Małgorzata
AU - Górecki, Kamil
AU - Witczak, Katarzyna
AU - Greluk, Aleksandra
AU - Zarychta, Julia
AU - Dubaj, Maciej
TI - Diagnosis and Risk Assessment in Neuroblastoma: Current Evidence and a Pilot Retrospective Study
T2 - Oncology Research
PY -
VL -
IS -
SN - 1555-3906
AB - Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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, p = 0.037). The literature review identified ncRNAs associated with aggressive and MYCN-driven NB phenotypes, supporting their potential role in future risk assessment. Conclusions: 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.
KW - Neuroblastoma; child; diagnosis; risk factors; ferritin; neuron-specific enolase
DO - 10.32604/or.2026.081326