FOXR2 Stabilizes MYCN Protein and Identifies Non--Amplified Neuroblastoma Patients With Unfavorable Outcome.

Purpose: Clinical outcomes of patients with neuroblastoma range from spontaneous tumor regression to fatality. Hence, understanding the mechanisms that cause tumor progression is crucial for the treatment of patients. In this study, we show that activation identifies a subset of neuroblastoma tumors with unfavorable outcome and we investigate the mechanism how FOXR2 relates to poor outcome in patients.

Therapeutic vulnerabilities in the DNA damage response for the treatment of ATRX mutant neuroblastoma.

Background: In neuroblastoma, genetic alterations in ATRX, define a distinct poor outcome patient subgroup. Despite the need for new therapies, there is a lack of available models and a dearth of pre-clinical research.

Methods: To evaluate the impact of ATRX loss of function (LoF) in neuroblastoma, we utilized CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to generate neuroblastoma cell lines isogenic for ATRX.

A mechanistic classification of clinical phenotypes in neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is a pediatric tumor of the sympathetic nervous system. Its clinical course ranges from spontaneous tumor regression to fatal progression. To investigate the molecular features of the divergent tumor subtypes, we performed genome sequencing on 416 pretreatment neuroblastomas and assessed telomere maintenance mechanisms in 208 of these tumors.

Malignant astrocytomas of elderly patients lack favorable molecular markers: an analysis of the NOA-08 study collective.

Background: The number of patients age >65 years with malignant gliomas is increasing. Prognosis of these patients is worse compared with younger patients. To determine biological differences among malignant gliomas of different age groups and help to explain the survival heterogeneity seen in the NOA-08 trial, the prevalence and impact of recently established biomarkers for outcome in younger patients were characterized in elderly patients.