Authors: Tsutomu Sasaki Beatriz M Lopes Gerald R Hankins Gregory A Helm
Publish Date: 2002/03/29
Volume: 104, Issue: 1, Pages: 105-109
Abstract
Survivin is an inhibitor of apoptosis protein that blocks apoptosis by binding to caspases3 and 7 It is highly expressed in lessdifferentiated embryonic cells and rapidly dividing tumors but not in terminally differentiated adult tissues Elevated survivin levels are found in malignant systemic tumors and are associated with chemoresistance radiation resistance and poor prognosis However expression of survivin in primary nervous system tumors has not been previously characterized Immunohistochemistry using antihuman survivin antibody SURV11A was performed on formalinfixed paraffinembedded archival tissue from 112 primary central nervous system tumors Survivin immunoreactivity was seen in most diffuse astrocytomas WHO II 2/4 III 3/3 IV 9/10 giantcell glioblastoma 1 and gliosarcoma 1 The intensity and degree of survivin expression showed trends with tumor grade with glioblastomas having the highest positivity Pilocytic astrocytomas 5 and pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma 1 were positive to a lesser degree In oligodendrogliomas 6 and mixed oligoastrocytomas grade II 5 II–III 3 and III 7 oligodendroglial elements appear to be negative compared to positive minigemistocytic oligodendrocytes Ependymomas grade II 6 and grade III 1 were positive Medulloblastomas 5 and retinoblastoma 1/4 showed focal positivity All meningiomas grade I 12 II 9 III 4 and grade I 3 and II 5 with frank brain invasion were intensely positive All schwannomas 11 and neurofibromas 6 were intensely positive Thus survivin is expressed in the majority of the primary nervous system tumors particularly in glioblastomas meningiomas schwannomas and neurofibromas Overexpression of survivin in meningiomas and benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors contrasts with previous reports relating it to rapid division and poor prognosis
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