ISSN: 1837-9664Journal of Cancer
Global reach, higher impact
J Cancer 2010; 1:93-97. doi:10.7150/jca.1.93 This volume Cite
Research Paper
Dual use of a single Wilms' tumor 1 immunohistochemistry in evaluation of ovarian tumors: a preliminary study of 20 cases
1. Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan
2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan
3. Department of Pathology, Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC
4. Department of Gynecologic and Breast Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and American Registry of Pathology, Washington DC and Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
Abstract
Our previous studies revealed that a single Wilms' tumor 1 (WT-1) immunohistochemistry can be used to elucidate both the myoepithelial cells and blood vessels of human breast tumors. As the human ovary is rich in blood vessels, and WT-1 has been used as a biomarker for ovarian tumors, our current study attempted to assess if a single WT-1 immunohistochemistry has dual usages in evaluation of ovarian tumor and endothelial cells. Paraffin-embedded tissue sections were prepared from 20 cases of ovarian tumors. A set of four consecutive sections from each case were subjected to immunohistochemistry with a mouse monoclonal antibody against the human WT-1 protein, a well defined ovarian tumor marker, CA-125, and a endothelial cell phenotypic marker, CD34, respectively. From each case, 4-5 randomly selected fields were photographed, and expression of these molecules in the same structures were compared. Distinct WT-1 immunoreactivities were seen in both ovarian tumor and endothelial cells. Over 90% of WT-1 positive tumor and endothelial cells were positive for CA-125 and CD34, respectively. Similarly, over 90% of CA-125 or CD34 positive cells co-express WT-1 in tumor or endothelial cells, respectively. Our findings suggest that a single WT-1 immunohistochemistry can be used to assess both the tumor cells and micro-vascular density in ovarian tumors. Our findings also suggest that as WT-1 is expressed in both tumor and endothelial cells, the development of therapeutic agents to target WT-1 may provide an effective treatment option for ovarian cancer.
Keywords: Cancer biomarkers, WT-1 protein, vascular density, tumor invasion, ovarian tumors
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