Open AccessExpression of the KIT Protein (CD117) in Primary Cutaneous Mast Cell Tumors of the Dog
Author(s) -
R. Preziosi,
Maria Morini,
Giuseppe Sarli
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1943-4936
pISSN - 1040-6387
DOI - 10.1177/104063870401600610
Subject(s) - cd117 , immunohistochemistry , pathology , mast cell , immunostaining , biology , stromal cell , malignancy , tissue microarray , receptor tyrosine kinase , medicine , kinase , cd34 , immunology , stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology
Thirty-one canine cutaneous masses, diagnosed as mast cell tumors (MCT) by histopathologic analysis, were used to evaluate the immunohistochemical pattern of expression of KIT protein (CD117), a type III tyrosine kinase protein involved in mast cell growth and differentiation. Lesions were graded as I (well differentiated), II (intermediate differentiation), or III (poorly differentiated) according to the following morphologic features: invasiveness, cellularity and cellular morphology, mitotic index, and stromal reaction. Immunohistochemical KIT expression was compared with histologic grade and some histomorphologic features (cell differentiation and nuclear grade) evaluated separately. A possible predictive role of biologic behavior in MCTs for KIT expression was also investigated. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed three different patterns of KIT expression: a cytoplasmic diffuse pattern, a membranous pattern with immunostaining located on the cell surface, and a cytoplasmic perinuclear pattern, where KIT expression was detected in the cytoplasm of the neoplastic mast cells, close to the nucleus. Statistical analysis showed a close relationship between different KIT immunohistochemical patterns and histologic grade ( P < 0.), cell differentiation ( P < 0.), and nuclear grade ( P < 0.0024). According to Kaplan-Meier–estimated survival curves compared by survival analysis, KIT expression was significantly associated with survival time ( P = 0.037) but not cancer-free interval ( P = 0.50). Similar to other well-known histomorphological features, KIT expression is a useful parameter of malignancy in cutaneous MCTs. KIT expression also predicted the biological behavior of the tumors in this study.