Expression and diagnostic significance of CD34 in brain tumors of patients with refractory epilepsy / 中华病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the immunohistochemical expression and diagnostic significance of CD34 in brain tumors of patients with refractory epilepsy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical study for CD34 was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 54 cases of brain tumors occurring in patients with refractory epilepsy. The tumor types included ganglioglioma (GG, number = 21), dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT, number = 8), tumors/lesions which had the transitional features that between glioneuronal hamartia and mixed neuronal-glial tumor (number = 21) and pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA, number = 4). Cases of glioblastoma (number = 4) and oligoastrocytoma (number = 5) were used as controls.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Twenty of the 21 cases of GG, 1 of the 8 cases of DNT, 16 of the 21 cases of tumors/lesions which had the transitional features and 3 of the 4 cases of PXA showed cytoplasmic and membranous positivity for CD34. The adjoining brain tissues in 9 of the 18 cases of GG, 6 of the 16 cases of tumors/lesions which had the transitional features and 1 of the 3 cases of PXA also expressed CD34. In contrast, only 1 case of glioblastoma showed membranous positivity for CD34.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>CD34 preferred to staining for GG and PXA. Which represent a valuable tool for distinguishing GG, PXA and DNT, oligoastrocytoma, glioblastoma.</p>