Test Predicts Course of Childhood Brain Tumor

Researchers studying the most common type of childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma, have found that the amount of Ki-67 antigen expressed on the cancer cells is indicative of the likelihood of the tumor to progress or re-occur after surgery.

Investigators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA) used the MIB-1 antibody, which is specific for Ki-67, to evaluate 118 young cancer patients. As reported in their paper in the August 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, they established an MIB-1 index by using immunohistolytical methods to compare the number of MIB-1 positive and negative cells in the tumor.

Senior author Dr. Linda Margraf, associate professor of pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said, "Patients with more than 2% of positive cells had an increased risk of cancer recurrence or growth. The test, although time-consuming, is now available and could benefit children with a history of pilocytic astrocytomas. Most pathology labs can do it, and it is available at most major medical centers,” Dr. Margraf said.




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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center