The effects of selective inhibitors of n-glycosylation and endoplasmic reticulum stress inducers on the expression of neuroblastoma drug resistance

Abstract

Neuroblastoma (NB) represents 8-10% of all childhood tumours and accounts for approximately 15% of all cancer-related deaths in the paediatric population. Approximately half of newly diagnosed children with this tumour will present with metastatic disease or histologically aggressive large tumours that are at high risk for treatment failure. Since NBs are often widely disseminated and the tumours genetically heterogeneous in terms of their growth and metastatic behaviour, it is challenging to pinpoint their origin and predict disease prognosis. Several risk factors have been identified to play a role in disease progression, including age at the time of initial presentation, tumour stage, histology and ploidy of the tumour, and cytogenetic aberrations such as MYCN amplification, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), loss of heterozygosity of 11q and gain of 17q chromosomes.