Premium
Tumor apoptosis in cervical cancer: Its role as a prognostic factor in 42 radiotherapy patients
Author(s) -
Kim JooYoung,
Cho HyunYee,
Lee KyuChan,
Hwang YouJin,
Lee MyungHak,
Roberts Stephen A.,
Kim Chul Hwan
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.1033
Subject(s) - medicine , radiation therapy , apoptosis , cervix , h&e stain , cancer , oncology , carcinoma , in vivo , pathology , nuclear medicine , immunohistochemistry , biology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
To investigate tumor apoptosis as a prognostic factor for outcome following radiation therapy, comparisons were made of apoptotic index (AI) as a predictor of short‐ vs. long‐term response and pretreatment vs. radiation‐induced apoptosis. Forty‐two patients with proven squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated by radiation alone. Apoptosis was measured by light microscopic observation of hematoxylin and eosin‐stained sections from biopsies taken before treatment and 4 and 24 hr after 2 Gy. Patients were evaluated at the end of the external radiation for determination of short‐term response and for long‐term outcome as well (median follow‐up of 27 months). Patients with high spontaneous AI showed poor short‐term response, local control, and survival. The significance of AI as a predictor of short‐term response was lost after allowing for differences in tumor size. The positive predictive value of AI for local control and survival was independent of tumor size and stage. High AI was associated with poor local control and long‐term prognosis in advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. The in vivo radiation‐induced AI after 4 or 24 hr did not predict radiation therapy outcome. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.