Expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in Wilms' tumor

Objective To investigate the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and its clinical significance in Wilms' tumor. Methods PCNA immunoreactivity on paraffin-embedded tissues was assessed retrospectively in 35 cases using labelled streptaridin biotin (LSAB) procedure, and its association with clinical and other biological features was studied. Results Twelve tumors (34.29%) expressed PCNA. Expression rate increased with the advance of stage (P < 0.05). The S-phase fraction and proliferation index (PI) in children with PCNA positive expression were higher than those in children with negative PCNA expression (P < 0.05). The survival rate (16.67%) in patients with positive PCNA expression was significantly lower than that (73.91%) in no-expression ones (P < 0.01). Conclusion PCNA is a sensitive indicator for cell proliferation and is clinically useful in identifying a poor prognostic group of patients with Wilms' tumor.