Prognostic impact of tumor size on patients with neuroblastoma in a SEER‐based study

Abstract

Abstract Objective The prognostic value of tumor size in neuroblastoma (NB) patients has not been fully evaluated. Our purpose is to elucidate the prognostic significance of tumor size in surgery performed on neuroblastoma patients. Methods Neuroblastoma patients diagnosed from 2004 to 2015 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) for the study. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to identify risk factors and the independent prognostic influences of tumor size on NB patients. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed through univariate Cox regression analysis. To determine the optimal cutoff value of tumor size, we first divided the cohort into three groups (≤5 cm, 5–10 cm, >10 cm). Subsequently, the patients were divided into two groups repeatedly, with tumor size at 1 cm intervals. The cutoff value that maximized prognostic outcome difference was selected. Furthermore, we performed the Kaplan–Meier methods to visually present differences in prognosis between the optimal tumor size cutoff value in different subgroups. Results A total of 591 NB patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected from the SEER database in this study. Cox analysis showed that age >1 year (HR = 2.42, p 4 cm might predict poor prognosis, which should be included in the evaluation of prognostic factors for NB.

Keywords

• neuroblastoma
• prognosis
• SEER
• survival analysis
• tumor size