Chromosome Translocation in Peripheral Neuroepithelioma

PERIPHERAL neuroepithelioma (peripheral neuroblastoma) is an uncommon malignant tumor of the peripheral nervous system with a histologic appearance similar to that of classical childhood neuroblastoma.1 2 3 In contrast to neuroblastoma, it typically presents in older children and young adults, it can be associated with peripheral nerves, and it spares the adrenal glands and sympathetic ganglia. We have studied both tumor specimens and tumor-cell lines from two patients with peripheral neuroepithelioma; in each case, we found these karyotypes to include an rcp(11;22)(q24;q12) indistinguishable from the one that has been reported in Ewing's sarcoma.4,5 This finding supports the hypothesis that these two entities.