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Quantitative analysis of apoptosis in retinoblastoma
Sinan Tatlipinar1, Figen Söylemezoglu, Hayyam Kiratli
1Ocular Oncology Service, Department of Ophthalmology, Hacettepe School of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Purpose:
The rate of apoptosis in retinoblastoma (Rb) and the factors that may influence this rate, such as therapy prior to surgery, amount of necrosis in tumour tissue, differentiation and laterality of the tumour, were investigated.
Methods:
Thirty-one specimens (25 enucleation, six exenteration) with Rb were studied. Prior to final surgery, three patients received systemic chemotherapy, one intravitreal chemotherapy, one transpupillary thermotherapy, one external beam radiotherapy and one high-dose oral methylprednisolone therapy. The apoptotic index (AI,%) was calculated by counting at least 1000 cells under light microscopy (x 100) using TUNEL (terminal deoxynu-cleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling) method.
Results:
The mean AI was 2.75 plus minus 1.2. No statistically significant association was observed between rate of apoptosis and the presurgical treatment, extent of necrosis, tumour differentiation and laterality.
Conclusion:
Apoptosis is an important mechanism of cell death, and may be a limiting factor for tumour progression. In this study, the rate of apoptosis was not affected by any of the studied parameters.