PROGNOSTIC-SIGNIFICANCE OF PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN (PCNA) EXPRESSION IN GLIOMAS

The relationship between proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) exp ression and various clinicopathological indices (age, sex, tumour loca tion, histological type and grade and treatment) and post-operative su rvival were studied in patients with central nervous system gliomas us ing univariate and multivariate analysis. The expression of PCNA (PC10 score) was examined immunohistochemically using the monoclonal antibo dy PC10 on paraffin sections from 45 cases. Univariate analysis showed that a high PC10 score as well as older age, high histological grade and the histological type (astrocytoma) were associated with reduced s urvival. However, multivariate analysis revealed that only PC10 score and histological type had independent prognostic significance. The mos t important feature influencing PC10 score was the tumour grade. Regar ding the patients who relapsed, the survival from the time of original diagnosis was related to the relapse-free period, while the PC10 scor e of the primary tumour emerged as the only independent predictor of s urvival following the first recurrence. These results indicate that PC NA expression is an independent prognostic indicator in CNS gliomas.