Classification of neuroblastoma by integrating gene expression pattern with regional alterations in DNA copy number

The specific genes that influence neuroblastoma biology and are targeted by genomic alterations remain largely unknown. We quantified mRNA expression in a highly annotated series of 101 prospectively collected diagnostic neuroblastoma primary tumors and the expression profiles were determined using Affymetrix U95Av2 arrays. Comparisons between the sample groups allow the identification of genes with localized expression patterns. This study demonstrates that the genomic data can be used to subcategorize the disease into molecular subsets and the regional copy number alterations are correlated with a broad number of transcriptional alterations genome wide. This data also suggests that multiple genes from several discrete regions of the human genome co-operate to supress neuroblastoma tumorigenesis and progression.

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Wang Q, Diskin S, Rappaport E, Attiyeh E, Mosse Y, Shue D, Seiser E, Jagannathan J, Shusterman S, Bansal M, Khazi D, Winter C, Okawa E, Grant G, Cnaan A, Zhao H, Cheung NK, Gerald W, London W, Matthay KK, Brodeur GM, Maris JM