TY - JOUR
T1 - Hepatoblastoma
T2 - DNA nuclear content, proliferative indices, and pathology
AU - Rugge, Massimo
AU - Sonego, Fulvia
AU - Pollice, Lucio
AU - Perilongo, Giorgio
AU - Guido, Maria
AU - Basso, Giuseppe
AU - Ninfo, Vito
AU - Pennelli, Natale
AU - Gambini, Claudio
AU - Guglielmi, Maurizio
AU - Fabiano, Alfredo
AU - Leandro, Gioacchino
AU - Keeling, Jean W.
PY - 1998/4
Y1 - 1998/4
N2 - Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most frequent malignant liver tumor in infancy, and both its biological features and its prognostic behavior are still under investigation. DNA content and proliferative activity of the tumor have been considered as biological parameters related to the tumor's aggressiveness. The present study attempts to investigate the possible association between histologic subtype, DNA content, and proliferative indices in HB. DNA content and the proportion of cells in the S-phase were assessed by flow cytometry in 34 cases of HB (14 prior to chemotherapy, 20 after chemotherapy), using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival samples. The proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling index was also evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and both the flow cytometry (FC) and the immunohistochemical data were correlated with tumor pathology. A significant association was found between histological type, DNA content and the percentage of cells in the S-phase, with aneuploidy and the highest proportions of S-phase cells significantly associated with embryonal tumors. The PCNA labeling index was found to be significantly higher in embryonal than in fetal phenotype. The biological heterogeneity of HB is confirmed by the different nuclear content of the fetal (diploid) and embryonal (aneuploid) epithelial components of the tumor, also ruling out the likelihood of fetal (diploid) clones deriving from the embryonal (aneuploid) neoplastic cells. Since the highly proliferative neoplastic clones (i.e., embryonal) are thought to be more sensitive to antimitotic drugs, further studies are indicated to determine the relationship between ploidy, proliferative indices and chemoresponsiveness.
AB - Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most frequent malignant liver tumor in infancy, and both its biological features and its prognostic behavior are still under investigation. DNA content and proliferative activity of the tumor have been considered as biological parameters related to the tumor's aggressiveness. The present study attempts to investigate the possible association between histologic subtype, DNA content, and proliferative indices in HB. DNA content and the proportion of cells in the S-phase were assessed by flow cytometry in 34 cases of HB (14 prior to chemotherapy, 20 after chemotherapy), using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival samples. The proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling index was also evaluated by immunohistochemistry, and both the flow cytometry (FC) and the immunohistochemical data were correlated with tumor pathology. A significant association was found between histological type, DNA content and the percentage of cells in the S-phase, with aneuploidy and the highest proportions of S-phase cells significantly associated with embryonal tumors. The PCNA labeling index was found to be significantly higher in embryonal than in fetal phenotype. The biological heterogeneity of HB is confirmed by the different nuclear content of the fetal (diploid) and embryonal (aneuploid) epithelial components of the tumor, also ruling out the likelihood of fetal (diploid) clones deriving from the embryonal (aneuploid) neoplastic cells. Since the highly proliferative neoplastic clones (i.e., embryonal) are thought to be more sensitive to antimitotic drugs, further studies are indicated to determine the relationship between ploidy, proliferative indices and chemoresponsiveness.
KW - DNA-ploidy
KW - Flow cytometry
KW - Hepatoblastoma
KW - Liver tumors
KW - PCNA
KW - Pediatric liver tumors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=7144252533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=7144252533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 9588772
AN - SCOPUS:7144252533
VL - 18
SP - 128
EP - 133
JO - Liver
JF - Liver
SN - 0106-9543
IS - 2
ER -