title: Staining for factor VIII related antigen and Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I) in 230 tumours. An assessment of their specificity for angiosarcoma and Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: In this study we examined the staining reactivity of commercially available antisera to factor VIII related antigen (F VIII RAg) and Ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA-I) on sections from 230 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tumours. These included 196 sarcomas, 20 carcinomas and 14 angiomas. All angiomas showed positive staining for F VIII RAg; all carcinomas showed negative staining; the vasoformative areas of all angiosarcomas stained positively but only four of six angiosarcomas showed positive staining of their solid areas; of seven Kaposi's sarcomas, all showed positive staining of vessels and six showed positive staining of the spindle cell component. In the remaining 181 non-vascular sarcomas there was a false positive result in four tumours (2.2%), three of which had a history of irradiation. Pre-radiotherapy biopsies of these three tumours stained negatively with anti-F VIII RAg. UEA-I was demonstrated in all the angiomas studied, in all angiosarcomas (including the solid components) and in well-formed vessels of all Kaposi's sarcomas, but only in the spindle cell component of 3/6. However, there was an unacceptably high rate of false positive staining amongst the carcinomas and non-vascular sarcomas. In conclusion, F VIII RAg is a specific but not a sensitive marker of angiosarcomas; UEA-I is a sensitive but not a specific marker of angiosarcomas.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000941:Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D005169:Factor VIII / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000276:immunology*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D037102:Lectins / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037121:Plant Lectins; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000276:immunology; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000276:immunology*; D014841:von Willebrand Factor
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D037102:Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; C036850:Ulex europaeus lectins; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D005169:Factor VIII