The relationship of class I MHC antigen expression to stage IV-S disease and survival in neuroblastoma.

Cultured human neuroblastoma cells express low levels of class I (MHC) surface antigen. In order to determine if this low expression is representative of the clinical tumor, this study investigates class I expression in archival human neuroblastoma. Whereas stages I to IV neuroblastoma expressed low levels of class I antigen, stage IV-S tumor cells expressed normal levels, similar to control tissues. Expression of class I antigen in tumors from survivors of stage III neuroblastoma was significantly greater than in tumors from nonsurvivors. Tumors comprised predominantly of ganglion cells expressed significantly more class I antigen than neuroblasts. These data suggest that class I MHC expression may play a role in the natural history of human neuroblastoma.