Possible differential diagnosis of neuroblastoma from rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma by using a panel of monoclonal antibodies.

The accurate diagnosis of malignant tumor type is essential to enable the correct therapeutic regimen to be followed and to predict a patient's prognosis. However, the differential diagnosis of "small-round-cell" tumors, represented by neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, lymphoma/leukemia and Ewing's sarcoma, can occasionally be difficult by conventional morphological and biochemical methods. If tumor membrane markers were available, these could provide rapid and accurate diagnostic aids. In the present work, a panel of 9 monoclonal antibodies raised against hematopoietic cells (BA-1, BA-2, J-5 and B7/21), brain cells (UJ-13A, UJ-127-11 and anti-Thy-1), and neuroblastoma cells (HSAN1.2 and PI153/3) was used to analyze the membrane phenotypes of 12 neuroblastoma, 4 rhabdomyosarcoma and 3 Ewing's sarcoma cell lines and cells of 3 fresh bone marrow tumors. BA-1, UJ-127-11 and PI153/3 antibodies may be useful for the differential diagnosis of neuroblastoma from rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma.