Using flow cytometry to detect minimal neuroblastoma cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow

Objective To evaluate the clinical values of flow cytometry to detect minimal neuroblas- toma (NB) cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow. Methods Blood and marrow samples from 11 pa- tients with abdominal NB (NB group) and 23 cases with other tumors (control group), aged from 6 months to 12 years, were detected for minimal NB cells with flow cytometry using a specific combination of CD45/CD56/GD2 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs). Results Positive rate of NB cells in peripheral blood was 90.9 % ( 10/11 ) and 72.7 % (8/11) in bone marrow of NB group. No positive cell could be noted in pe- ripheral blood and bone marrow in the control group. In NB group, good correlation between positive NB cells and smear cytologic diagnosis in bone marrow was noted(P0.05). Meanwhile, higher sensitivity could be found in flow cytometry because it was not affected by bone marrow dilution. The positive rate in bone marrow of stage Ⅱ-Ⅳ of NB was significantly higher than that of stage Ⅰ(8/8 vs 0/3, P0.05). After chemotherapy, the positive numbers of NB cells were significantly reduced in peripheral blood and bone marrow (P0.05). NB cells reappearance in blood was observed on 2 cases with postoperative metastasis. Conclusions Minimal NB cells detecting with flow cytometry using CD45/CD56/GD2 MoAbs in peripheral blood and bone marrow is high sensitive and specific. It is useful to differential diagnosis, effi- cacious evaluation and metastatic monitoring of NB.