Indian journal of pathology & microbiology | 2021
Adjunctive role of immunohistochemical expression of Nucleostemin in differentiation of grade II and III diffuse astrocytomas.
Abstract
Aims\nAstrocytomas are common tumors and grade is an important parameter in determining the treatment modalities. Tumor proliferation activity should be determined for the differentiation of grades II and III tumors. In difficult cases, an auxiliary parameter is required. Nucleostemin (NS) is nucleolar Guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein 3. It has important roles in cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation, self-renewal, and apoptosis. In this study, we investigated whether the level of NS expression is different in grades II and III astrocytomas.\n\n\nSettings and Design\nAdults diagnosed with grades II and III astrocytomas were included in the study.\n\n\nMaterial and Methods\nParaffin blocks that best reflected tumor morphology were studied via immunohistochemical staining for NS. Only nuclear staining was evaluated; cytoplasmic staining was not considered.\n\n\nStatistical Analysis Used\nFisher s exact test, continuity corrections, and Pearson s Chi-square tests were used in the crosstabs. The survival analysis was based on the Kaplan-Meier method.\n\n\nResults\nOnly 20% (6/30) of grade II tumors had high intensity staining, while 54,2% (13/24) of grade III tumors had high staining intensity. NS was significantly more intense in grade III tumors than grade II tumors. In cases with high NS expression, survival was significantly shorter than the cases with low expression.\n\n\nConclusion\nNS is significantly higher expressed in grade III tumors than grade II tumors. In difficult cases, it can be used as a useful proliferation marker in the differentiation of grades II and III astrocytomas.