USEFULNESS OF MTB1 MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY IN ASSESSING THE PROLIFERATIVEINDEX IN HUMAN BLADDER-CARCINOMA - COMPARISON WITH KI-67 ANTIBODY

The reactivity of MIB1 antibody on routinely processed paraffin sectio ns was compared with that of Ki-67 antibody on frozen sections of 80 t ransitional cell carcinomas of the bladder. The percentage of labelled cells was expressed as the labelling index. MIB1 labelling indices we re higher than those of Ki-67 but for each case the two values were st rongly correlated (r = 0.91). Ki-67 and MIB1 indices were also correla ted to tumour grade and stage (P less than or equal to 0.001). MIB1 in dices determined after both formaldehyde and ethanol based Bouin's flu id fixatives did not show any significant difference. MIB1 antibody st aining after microwave oven heating of tissue sections is a simple tec hnique for assessing the proliferative fraction of bladder tumours on fixed material. The use of MIB1 antibody permits retrospective studies and should determine whether the proliferation index in bladder carci noma has the same prognostic value as demonstrated in other types of n eoplasms.