Premium
Expression of intermediate filaments in soft‐tissue sarcomas
Author(s) -
Miettinen M.,
Lehto V.P.,
Badley R. A.,
Virtanen I.
Publication year - 1982
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.2910300502
Subject(s) - desmin , vimentin , intermediate filament , keratin , pathology , synovial sarcoma , sarcoma , soft tissue , biology , rhabdomyosarcoma , immunofluorescence , immunohistochemistry , cytoskeleton , medicine , antibody , cell , immunology , genetics
Monospecific antibodies and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy were used to investigate the presence of cytoskeletal intermediate filaments of the keratin, vimentin and desmin types in 43 soft‐tissue sarcomas. The results showed that vimentin was present in the neoplastic cells of all types of soft‐tissue sarcomas studied, whereas keratin was absent, the only exception being the epithelial‐like cells in biphasic synovial sarcoma. The presence of desmin was confined to leiomyosarcomas and rhabdomyosarcomas, which usually showed desmin‐positivity. In addition, malignant fibrous histiocytomas occasionally displayed some desmin‐positive cells. Thus, determination of intermediate filaments is of aid in the histogenetical diagnosis of tumors, because keratin‐positivity largely excludes the possibility of a sarcoma, and desmin‐positivity aids in recognizing leiomyosarcomas and rhabdomyosarcomas.