title: Expression and clinical significance of nestin in astrocytic tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of nestin in human astrocytic tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Indirect immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry were used to quantitatively detect the nestin content in 35 specimens, including 3 normal brain tissues, 29 astrocytic tumor (AT) tissues, and 3 peritumoral tissues.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In normal brain tissues, nestin expression was extremely low. Nestin expression was significantly positively correlated with the histological grade of astrocytic tumors (p<0.05, rs=0.83). Nestin content in the peritumoral tissues was between the levels of nestin in tumor tissue and in normal brain tissue (p<0.01). Nestin expression was unrelated to the patient's gender, age, tumor location, size, etc. (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The application of flow cytometry in the determination of nestin content could improve the accuracy of early cancer diagnosis. This method would be helpful for developing a reference range that is closely related to the pathological grading of ATs through routine assessments of nestin in many patients. Additionally, through examining nestin levels in peritumoral tissues, the invasiveness of ATs can be clarified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Bao-jun
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Feng-Yang
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Feng-Qin
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yun-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lian-Qun
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fan-Gang
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064231:Nestin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D064231:Nestin