title: Prognostic utility of apoptosis index, Ki-67 and survivin expression in dogs with nasal carcinoma treated with orthovoltage radiation therapy.
abstract: Apoptosis, Ki-67 and survivin expression have been reported as prognostic values in human cancer treated with radiation therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the outcome of canine nasal carcinomas treated with radiation therapy and these cancer markers. The apoptotic index (AI) was evaluated with TUNEL assays, and an immunohistochemical evaluation was performed on Ki-67 and survivin in 33 biopsy samples taken before treatment. Median survival times were estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank method. The AI ranged from 0 to 0.7%, and the percentage of Ki-67-positive cells defined as the proliferative index (PI) ranged from 0.8 to 77% in all samples. Neither the AI nor the PI had a significant relationship with survival time (P=0.056 and 0.211). Survivin expression was detected in 84.9% of samples of canine nasal carcinoma. Dogs with high survivin expression were associated with poorer response to treatment and had shorter survival times (P=0.017 and 0.031). Advanced-stage tumors were also significantly associated with a high level of survivin (P=0.026). Overexpression of survivin was shown to be an unfavorable prognostic factor in dogs with nasal carcinomas treated with radiation therapy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Clinical Oncology, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Midorimachi, Bunkyodai, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Dah-Renn
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Daiki
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Ai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watabe
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadosawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D004285:Dogs; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen