Purpose: The AT Rich Interactive Domain 1A (ARID1A) has been implicated in diverse cancers as having either gain or loss activities. The present study was undertaken to determine the expression and effects of ARID1A expression in Neuroblastomas (NBs) and to assess the clinico-pathological association by which ARID1A predict the outcome in these NBs.
Experimental Design: The expression of ARID1A was studied NBs obtained from the 54 primary biopsies by qRT-PCR, Western-blot and immunohistochemistry. The NB features based on clinicopathological data, gene expression data, and a combination of the two were produced and used to predict outcome.
Results: Of 54 NBs, 10 (18.5%) did not express ARID1A, 32 (60.1%) expressed low basal ARID1A and 12 (22.2%) expressed 2-fold ARID1A as compared with human dorsal root ganglia. Remarkably, the low ARID1A expression was associated with higher INSS stages (III and IV vs I and II) and MYCN amplification. The loss of ARID1A was significantly associated with 1p loss (P=0.007) and MYCN amplification (P=0.003), while high ARID1A expression was significantly associated with differentiated histology and showed 5-year survival rate of NB patients.
Conclusions: The ARID1A expression changes can be used to refine traditional outcome prediction, providing a rational approach for tailoring treatments to subsets of NB patients.