Clinicopathological significance of plap, NSE and WT1 detection in ovarian dysgerminoma

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the expression of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), prolactin (PRL) and Wilms’ tumor gene (WT1) protein in ovarian dysgerminoma and its Clinico-pathological significance. Methods: Clinicopathological data were retrospectively reviewed in a total of 31 patients with pure dysgerminoma who were treated at College Clinical Medicin, Chongqing Medical University from January 1983 to October 2002. Immunohistological staining for PLAP, NSE, PRL and WT1 was performed in all 31 tumor tissues. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 12 to 42 years old (average 25 yrs). According to the clinical staging, eighteen patients (58.1%) had stage I disease, 5 (16.1%) had stage II, 6(19.4%) had stage III, and 2 (6.4%) had stage IV disease. Of the 31 cases, the positive expression rates of PLAP, NSE, PRL and WT1 were 100% (31/31), 70.9%(22/31), 3.2%(1/31) and 12.9(4/31) respectively. There was a significant relation between NSE expression and clinical stages (P<0.05) and 5 years survival rate (P<0.05). The positive expression rate of WT1 was significantly related to histological types (P<0.05). Conclusion: Dysgerminomas in earlier stages (stage I/II) are associated with a favorable prognosis. NSE positive expression is closely related with advanced tumor stage (stage III/IV). PLAP and NSE can be considered as important markers of dysgerminoma tissues, and the tumor tissues are the main resources of serum PLAP and NSE. WT1 expression correlates with poorer differentiation of dysgerminoma. The importance of PRL in dygerminoma was not certified in this study, and remains to be defined.