Correlation between p63 expression and clinical behavior of giant-cell tumor of bone

Abstract

Giant-cell tumor (GCT) is a type of bone tumor that is usually benign. In this study, we investigate the clinicopathological features of GCT and identify unreported characteristics of such disease in Iranian patients. In this study, 50 GCT patients had been treated at a referral orthopedic hospital from March 2003 through March 2013. The patients’ sex, age, location of tumor, presenting symptoms, treatment methods, and recurrence rate were determined. To confirm the reliability of the initial diagnosis, hematoxylin and eosin (H-E) staining and P63 immunostaining were used. In this sample, 52 % of patients were male and 48 % were female. Among these patients, the most common symptom was pain. The most frequent surgical technique used for this group was the curettage, graft, and en bloc method. The lowest rate of tumor recurrence was observed in this technique. With the p63 immunostaining method, 27 cases were weakly positive and 14 cases were positive, while 9 cases were highly positive with episodes of recurrence. Of all body parts, GCT most commonly affects the knee. In our patients, the recurrence rate was 16 %, and all episodes of recurrence were observed in highly positive p63 patients. In summary, p63 could be a useful biomarker for the prognostication and assessment of GCT invasion.