title: Identification of potential prognostic markers for vulvar cancer using immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarrays.
abstract: The aim of this study is to determine immunohistochemical markers with prognostic significance for disease-specific survival in patients with squamous cell cancer of the vulva. The study material consisted of slides and paraffin blocks of 50 vulvectomy specimens. A tissue microarray was constructed and stained with 16 antibodies. The impact of lymph node metastases, size of tumor, vascular space involvement, and the marker expression on disease-specific survival was calculated. In univariate analysis lymph node metastases, tumor size more than 4 cm, vascular space involvement, strong cyclooxygenase 2 expression, and absent Caspase 3 expression were significantly associated with disease-specific survival. In a multivariate analysis, poor disease-specific survival is independently associated with absent Caspase 3 expression (hazard ratio, 0.2; 95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.97; P = 0.045). Five-year survival was 86% in patients with tumors positive for Caspase 3 (n = 20) and drops to 64% in patients with Caspase 3-negative tumors (n = 30). In this test set, cyclooxygenase 2 and Caspase 3 seem to be immunohistochemical markers with prognostic significance for vulva cancer. The results have to be validated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands. g.fons@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Guus
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fons
authors.forename: Matthe P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: Fiebo J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Ten Kate
authors.forename: Jacobus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Velden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D018307:Neoplasms, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D053148:Caspase 3