S. Kawauchi et al., Low expression of p27(Kip1), a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, is a marker of poor prognosis in synovial sarcoma, CANCER, 91(5), 2001, pp. 1005-1012
BACKGROUND, Low expression of p27(kip1), a dominant cyclin-dependent kinase
inhibitor involved in G1-S transition of the cell cycle, recently has been
reported to be associated with aggressive tumor growth. It has been shown
that active cell proliferation alludes to poor prognosis in patients with s
ynovial sarcoma. However, to the authors' knowledge, little is known about
the clinicopathologic significance of p27(kip1) in synovial sarcoma.
METHODS, p27(kip1) expression was examined immunohistochemically in 55 case
s of primary synovial sarcoma, and the relations between p27(kip1) expressi
on and several eel proliferation markers, i.e., mitotic index (MI), Ki-67 l
abeling index (Ki-67 LI), and clinicopathologic parameters related to poor
prognosis, were determined. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses w
ere performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of p27(kip1) expressi
on in synovial sarcomas.
RESULTS, p27(kip1) labeling index (p27(kip1) LI) correlated inversely with
MI (r = - 0.44, P = 0.0007) and Ki-67 LI (r = -0.63, P < 0.0001). Of the cl
inicopathologic parameters examined, tumor necrosis (P = 0.019) and America
n Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (P = 0.021) correlated significant
ly with p27(kip1) LI. Survival analysis showed that p27(kip1) LI was an ind
ependent prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with synovial s
arcoma (P = 0.0031).
CONCLUSIONS, The study results suggested that low expression of p27(kip1) m
ay be useful as a marker of poor-prognosis synovial sarcoma. (C) 2001 Ameri
can Cancer Society.