Cytoplasmic, but not nuclear, p16 expression may signal poor prognosis in high-grade astrocytomas.
BACKGROUND
The negative consequences of the cytoplasmic localization of p16 in patients with high-grade astrocytomas, on their prognosis, was investigated.


METHODS
p16 Expression was examined in 20 anaplastic astrocytoma and 42 glioblastoma patients by immunohistochemical analysis, and the relationship between both cytoplasmic and nuclear p16 expression and prognosis analyzed.


RESULTS
The cytoplasmic expression of p16 statistically correlated with poor prognosis. On the other hand, no correlation was observed between p16 nuclear expression and patient survival.


CONCLUSIONS
The cytoplasmic immunoreactivity of p16 appears to be an unfavorable prognostic indicator in high-grade astrocytoma patients. The localization of p16 expression should be determined when evaluating the prognosis of these patients.
Arifin
Muhamad Thohar
MT
Department of Neurosurgery, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima-Shi, Japan. thohar@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Hama
Seiji
S
Kajiwara
Yoshinori
Y
Sugiyama
Kazuhiko
K
Saito
Taiichi
T
Matsuura
Shinya
S
Yamasaki
Fumiyuki
F
Arita
Kazunori
K
Kurisu
Kaoru
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16