Absent or reduced expression of the caspase 8 gene occurs frequently in neuroblastoma, but not commonly in Ewing sarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma.

PROCEDURE: To clarify whether the caspase 8 gene is involved in the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma (NB), we examined alterations of the caspase 8 gene in 15 NB, seven Ewing sarcoma (ES), and eight rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cell lines, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and RT-PCR single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses.
RESULTS: The caspase 8 gene was not expressed in 11 (73%) of 15 NB cell lines, it was absent in only one of seven ES cell lines, but was present in all eight RMS cell lines examined. No mutations were detected in any cell lines examined.
CONCLUSIONS: Inactivation of the caspase 8 gene is considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of NB, but not ES or RMS. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.