[The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunostaining in renal pelvic and ureteral cancers and its prognostic value].

The expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was analyzed in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded materials of 20 primary renal pelvic and ureteral cancers. The relation between PCNA positive rate and clinical pathological stage and prognosis were investigated. The fraction of PCNA positive nuclei ranged between 1.6-64.4% (mean 25.1%). The PCNA positive rate was found to be related to established prognostic factors, but not to patient age, sex and length of time for paraffin-embedded. Grade 3 cancers showed a higher fraction of PCNA positive nuclei than grade 1 and 2 cancers (p < 0.05). Superficial cancers showed a significantly lower fraction on nuclei positive for PCNA than invasive cancers (p < 0.01). The cancers with lymph node metastases showed a higher fraction (p < 0.05). The cancers with distant metastases postoperatively, also had a higher fraction (p < 0.05). As PCNA immunostaining can be applied to routinely processed paraffin-embedded specimen, this method is very useful to assess the cell proliferation. The results suggest that the fraction of PCNA positive nuclei would be useful for investigating the malignant potential, of renal pelvic and ureteral cancers thereby providing prognostic factors of these diseases.