[Clinical and experimental studies on the cellular kinetics in esophageal carcinoma by using monoclonal antibody...

As subjects, 130 patients with thoracic esophageal carcinoma and 48 BALB/c nude mice bearing human esophageal carcinoma were used in this study. Fresh frozen specimens of the tumors were stained by the indirect immunohistochemical technique using monoclonal antibody Ki-67. Cancerous cell inside of whose nuclear was stained were judged as Ki-67 positive cells and Ki-67 positive cell rate was calculated by measuring the positive cell counts per 2,000 tumorous cells. Studies was made regarding the relationship between Ki-67 positive cells and DNA content in cancerous cell nucleus, emergence of epidermal growth factor receptor, degree of infiltration of Leu-7 cell around the tumor and postoperative death of recurrence. There were no significant relationship between Ki-67 positive rate and histologic prognosis factors. However, a significant difference of the postoperative death was found between the cases with and without Ki-67 positive cells. By the experimental study, no constant relation was observed between the growth and the proliferation of tumor. These results suggest that the carcinoma with Ki-67 positive cells can be a malignancy index for esophageal carcinoma for its high death of recurrence, although it seems to be difficult to grasp the certain proliferation kinetics by the results of measurement at a time point.