ULEX-EUROPAEUS LECTIN AND ANTI-CD31 STAINING IN SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE UTERINE CERVIX - POTENTIAL PROGNOSTIC MARKERS

Seventy-five squamous cell carcinomas of the uterine cervix and 10 con trols were stained for Ulex Europaeus lectin 1 (UEA-1) and anti-CD31, and the results were analyzed with respect to patient age, clinical st age, tumor grade, and survival during a follow-up period of 1 to 13 ye ars. The patients' mean age at the time of diagnosis was 47.8 years (r ange, 27 to 83). Seventeen patients died of disease, 2 had disease rec urrence, and 51 patients remained free of disease; 5 patients were los t to follow-up. Twenty-eight cases (37.3%) showed focal membranous sta ining for UEA-1 and 9 cases (12%) showed a diffuse pattern; 38 cases ( 50.7%) were UEA-1 negative. Poor survival was related to diffuse membr anous UEA-1 immunoreactivity (p = 0.02), age (p = 0.014), grade (p = 0 .02), and stage (p = 0.0002). CD31-positive neoplastic cells displayed a cytoplasmic pattern. Fifteen cases (20%) had diffuse staining and a nother 15 (20%) stained focally; 45 cases (60%) were CD31-negative. Th e adjacent nonneoplastic epithelium and all 10 controls were uniformly negative for CD31. Variable staining of the endocervical epithelium a nd weak or negative staining of ectocervical epithelium for UEA-1 were observed. However, the epithelium in all controls was negative for UE A-1. Poor survival was related to both focal and diffuse staining for CD31 (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). Staining by both UEA-1 and anti-CD31 retained its correlation with survival after exclusion of s tage Ia tumors.