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. 1995 Dec;147(6):1790–1798.

Insulin-like growth factor II in the pathogenesis of human neuroblastoma.

K A Sullivan 1, V P Castle 1, S M Hanash 1, E L Feldman 1
PMCID: PMC1869938  PMID: 7495303

Abstract

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) acts as an autocrine growth factor for many in vitro tumor cell lines including neuroblastoma. To examine the role of IGF-II in tumor biology we have analyzed a total of 56 primary neuroblastoma tumor samples for the presence of IGF-II using a combination of mRNA and protein analysis. A group of 21 samples was examined for the presence of IGF-II mRNA by slot blot and a separate group of 37 samples was examined for IGF-II immunoreactivity. IGF-II was detected in 48% of the total tumor specimens analyzed. IGF-II immunoreactivity was observed in cells resembling developing neuroblasts and was confined to the cytoplasm and proximal neurites. The appearance of IGF-II mRNA and protein did not correlate with tumor prognostic features including stage, histology, or N-myc amplification. These data suggest that the expression of IGF-II is not confined to a specific stage of the disease but may have a broader role in the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma.

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Selected References

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