THE EXPRESSION OF FERRITIN ON RENAL CANCERS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITHCELLULAR-DIFFERENTIATION AND TUMOR STAGE

Objectives To investigate ferritin expression in renal carcinoma and t he correlation of expression with tumour differentiation and stage. Pa tients and methods Ferritin was immunohistologically detected in 35 pa tients (23 men and 12 women; mean age 58.2 years, range 40-82) with re nal carcinoma and the findings compared with cellular type, tumour sta ge and the ferritin expression of a similar control population of 16 p atients. Results The incidence of ferritin expression in renal carcino mas was 51%. Expression was significantly related to tumour stage and not cellular type. Conclusion The results of this study re-emphasize t he high expression of ferritin in renal cell carcinoma and the correla tion of expression with tumour behaviour.