Preoperative analysis of 11q loss using circulating tumor-released DNA in serum: A novel diagnostic tool for therapy stratification of neuroblastoma

Allelic deletion of the long arm of chromosome 11 (11q loss) is closely associated with the prognosis of neuroblastoma (NB). Here we examined 11q loss using tumor-released DNA fragments in the sera of 24 cases. The allelic intensity score of a panel of polymorphic markers in 11q23 in serum DNA was significantly different between the 11q loss-positive group and the11q loss-negative group. The 11q loss-positive and -negative groups did not overlap when a cut-off value of 0.5 was chosen for the allelic intensity score. Our serum-based 11q loss analysis could predict the allelic status of 11q in tumors.

► We established a serum-based assay system for detecting 11q loss in neuroblastoma (NB). ► Microsatellite analysis was performed to detect the 11q status using serum DNA. ► Our 11q loss analysis completely matched the results of the MLPA analysis using the tumor DNA. ► Preoperative information of 11q status can provide appropriate therapeutic strategy in NB.