The expression of myc and ras oncogene protein in childhood lymphomas.
Paraffin sections from 21 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD), 18 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) and 15 cases of reactive lymphadenitides occurring in children 3-15 years old were examined by immunohistochemistry for the presence of c-myc and pan-ras oncogene products. In all cases of childhood lymphomas studied c-myc protein was expressed. The highest percentage was in HD where in 29% of cases the percentage of positive cells was greater than 20%, while in only 6% of NHL cases this percentage was noted. In all cases of reactive lymphadenitides the number of cells where c-myc was expressed was less than 5%. The ras oncogene was also found in HD but with a lesser degree of positivity than c-myc. In 48% of these cases the number of positive cells ranged between 2 and 10%, while in NHL and in reactive lymphadenitides there was no positivity. The above results indicate a frequent expression of c-myc protein in childhood lymphomas. This could reflect either an implication of c-myc oncogene in the pathogenesis of these tumor or an epiphenomenon of lymphomagenesis reflecting the proliferation rate of tumor cell population. Molecular biology studies are needed to clarify this issue.
Sakalidou
A
A
Department of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and Pathology, University Hospital of Iraklio, University of Crete Medical School, Greece.
Kanavaros
P
P
Tzardi
M
M
Kalmanti
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000032:analysis*; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D018631:ras Proteins