Expression of CD117,Nestin,and ki-67 in gastrointestinal stromal tumors and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the expression of CD117,Nestin,and Ki-67 in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs),its relationship with the clinicopathological features,and differentiation of malignant from benign GIST. Methods The expression of CD117,Nestin,and Ki-67 was detected with S-P staining and the differentiation of malignant from benign tumors in all cases were based on the observations under a light microscope. Then the correlation between immunohistochemical findings and clinicopathological features (gender,age,location,and histological type) and differentiation of malignant from benign GIST were analyzed. Results In 27 cases of GISTs,the positive rates of CD117 and CD34 were 88.9% and 92.6%,respectively. The Ki-67 proliferation indices were 1% ,1%~5% and 5% in 7,9 and 11 pa tients respectively. The expression of CD117,CD34 and Ki-67 was not significantly different between the groups in gender,age and histological types. The number of patients with benign,potential malignant and malignant tumors was 6,9 and 12 respectively. Further data showed that the expression of CD117 and Nestin proteins was not significantly different between different benign and malignant tumors. Nevertheless,Ki-67 protein showed a higher expression in high risk cases ( P0.01). Conclusion CD117 and Nestin,both highly expressed in GIST,can serve as diagnostic markers for GIST,but can not be used for assessing the risk in patients. The expression of Ki-67 protein might be a risk indicator for GIST and a predictor for prognosis.