Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - National Cancer Institute - Department of Clinical Pathology

Background: Neuroblastoma is a pediatric cancer originating from neural crest-derived from sympatho-adrenal progenitors (Coulon et al., 2011). The identification of metastatic tumor in patients diag»nosed with neuroblastoma is a critical component of accurate staging and disease surveillance (Krishnan et al., 2009). Beta-catenin, is involved in regulation and coordination of cell-cell adhesion and gene transcription (MacDonald et al., 2009). PHOX2B has growth inhibitory effects, as its over expression promotes cell cycle exit and inhibits the proliferation of cultured sympathetic neurons (Pei, et al., 2013). Aim of the study. Evaluate accuracy of Beta-catenin and PHOX2B in detection of bone marrow metastasis in neuroblastoma compared to routine morphological examination and IHC techniques using synaptophysin and NSE. Clarify their association with the clinical parameters and the response to treatment of patients. Patient and method: The current study was carried out on 52 newly diagnosed neuroblastoma pediatric patients, along with 12 age and sex matched apparently healthy normal controls. Ý-catenin positivity on BMB using IHC techniques and PHOX2B expression using quantitative (RT-PCR) were detected in both patients and controls

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