J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 96(7): 439-447, 1995

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Original article

ASSESSMENT OF THE PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITY OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA WITH THE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY Ki-67 USING FLOW CYTOMETRY

This study examined whether the monoclonal antibody Ki-67 is an indicator of hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and whether it represents a new parameter for determining the diagnosis and prognosis. The subjects were 22 patients who were not treated preoperatively among the patients undergoing hepatectomy at our department. Fresh specimens of the cancer tissue and the noncancerous regions were stained with PI after processing them with FITC-labeled Ki-67. Then 20,000 cells were analyzed by two-color flow cytometry. A significant difference was observed between the well differentiated group and the moderately and poorly differentiated groups. However, no significant difference was observed with respect to any other factor. The average Ki-67 labeling of the cancers in the patients with and without cirrhosis was 17.0±10.5% and 5.3±3.5%, respectively (p< 0.05). The cancers showed high Ki-67 labeling rates compared with the noncancerous areas and a positive correlation was observed between the two. These findings suggested that coexistent hepatic lesions have some influence on the proliferative activity of cacer. A significant correlation was confirmed by flow cytometry after immunostaining using the antibody MIB-1. Analysis by this method was considered to be useful for assessing the proliferating activity of hepatocellular carcinoma.

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