%0 Journal Article
%T CD117 immunoexpression in canine mast cell tumours: correlations with pathological variables and proliferation markers
%A Rui M Gil da Costa
%A Eduarda Matos
%A Alexandra Rema
%A C¨¦lia Lopes
%A Maria A Pires
%A F¨¢tima G£¿rtner
%J BMC Veterinary Research
%D 2007
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1746-6148-3-19
%X Highly significant (p < 0,001) correlations were found between CD117 immunostaining patterns and histological grade, cell proliferation markers (Ki67, AgNORs) and tumoral necrosis. Highly significant (p < 0,001) correlations were also established between the two cellular proliferation markers and histological grade, tumour necrosis and epidermal ulceration. A significant correlation (p = 0.035) was observed between CD117 expression patterns and epidermal ulceration. No differences were observed between focal and diffuse cytoplasmic CD117 staining patterns concerning any of the variables studied.These findings highlight the key role of CD117 in the biopathology of canine MCTs and confirm the relationship between aberrant CD117 expression and increased cell proliferation and higher histological grade. Further studies are needed to unravel the cellular mechanisms underlying focal and diffuse cytoplasmic CD117 staining patterns, and their respective biopathologic relevance.While remaining infrequent in human beings, cutaneous mast cell tumours (MCTs) are one of the most common tumours in dogs, accounting for about 6% of all tumours and 13% of all skin tumours of the dog [1]. Thus, canine MCTs have attracted increasing attention in recent years, as spontaneous models for studying mast cell neoplastic disorders and developing new targeted chemotherapeutic drugs [2-4]. The biological behaviour of canine MCTs can vary widely and is often difficult to predict [1]. Histological grading [5] is widely used for prognosis analysis [6], but its adequacy remains debatable [7]. According to the internationally adopted system, MCTs are usually graded as well-differentiated (grade I), moderately differentiated (grade II) or poorly differentiated (grade III) tumours. Other prognostic factors have recently been proposed, most notably proliferation markers such as Ki67 (MIB-1) nuclear antigen labelling index and AgNORs mean counts [8-11]. Recent studies have demonstrated both normal (mem
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/3/19