ISSN:
1432-2307
Keywords:
Ewing's sarcoma
;
Histology
;
Immunohistochemistry
;
Prognostic factors
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Histological and immunohistochemical features of 87 patients with conventionally diagnosed Ewing's sarcoma were studied retrospectively on routinely processed material and evaluated with regard to prognostic significance. 74% were convincingly positive when stained for vimentin, 13% were doubtful, and 13% were negative. A varying degree of positivity for neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was found in 15%; these cases all co-expressed vimentin. A single tumour contained scattered cytokeratin-positive cells. Positivity for the leukocyte common antigen (LCA) could be demonstrated in three cases; these were excluded from the statistical analysis of prognostic factors. Growth pattern, soft tissue invasion, monomorphic or dimorphic cell population, and PAS-, NSE- or vimentin-positivity did not influence survival significantly. However, prognosis was increasingly poor with increasing degree of necrosis: median survival was 28 months for grade I necrosis (〈10%), 16 months for grade II (10–50%), and 11 months for grade III (〉50%),p〈0.0005. A mitosis count of 〈1 per high-powerfield (HPF) was correlated to a median survival of 26 months, ≥ 1 per HPF to 12 months,p〈0.05. The findings indicate some degree of heterogeneity in Ewing's sarcoma which may be related to primitive peripheral neuroectodermal tumours (PNETs), or be a true blastoma. In future trials, diagnostic criteria (including immunohistochemistry) should be clearly defined and materials should be large enough to allow for stratification according to prognostic factors.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00822028
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