IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 8 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2808171
Open Access Original Research
Unraveling the Mystery: Next Generation Sequencing Sheds Light on Neuroblastoma Pathogenesis and Targeted Therapies
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1 Department of Basic Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Dokuz Eylül University, 35330 İzmir, Turkey
2 Department of Clinical Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Dokuz Eylül University, 35330 İzmir, Turkey
3 Department of Tumor Pathology, Institute of Oncology, Dokuz Eylül University, 35330 İzmir, Turkey
*Correspondence: safiye.aktas@deu.edu.tr; safiyeaktas@gmail.com (Safiye Aktas)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(8), 171; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2808171
Submitted: 16 May 2023 | Revised: 12 July 2023 | Accepted: 2 August 2023 | Published: 17 August 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: There is considerable interest in the molecular evaluation of solid tumors in pediatric cases. Although clinical trials are in progress for targeted therapies against neuroblastoma (NB), novel therapeutic strategies are needed for high-risk cases that are resistant to therapy. The aim of the present study was to document the specific gene mutations related to targeted therapy in relapsed or refractory NB patients by using next generation sequencing (NGS). Methods: The study included 57 NB patients from amongst 1965 neuroblastic cases in Turkey who experienced a recurrence after multi-model therapy. The cases were diagnosed, risk-stratified, and treated according to the classification system from the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group. Single nucleotide variations in 60 genes were investigated using the Pillar Onco/Reveal Multicancer v4 panel and Pillar RNA fusion panel on the Illumina Miniseq platform. Results: ERBB2 I655V was the most frequent mutation and was found in 39.65% of cases. Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) mutations (F1174L, R1275Q, and rare mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain) were detected in 29.3% of cases. Fusion mutations in NTRK1, NTRK3, ROS1, RET, FGFR3, ALK and BRAF were observed in 19.6% of cases. Conclusions: This study presents valuable mutation data for relapsed and refractory NB patients. The high frequency of the ERBB2 I655V mutation may allow further exploration of this mutation as a potential therapeutic target. Rare BRAF mutations may also provide opportunities for targeted therapy. The role of ABL1 mutations in NB should also be explored further.

Keywords
neuroblastoma
mutation
high-throughput nucleotide sequencing
therapy
anaplastic lymphoma kinase
erbB-2
BRAF-KIAA1549 fusion protein
DNA mutational analysis
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Funding
TSA-2023-3007/Dokuz Eylul University Scientific Research Councill
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