Immunohistochemical Detection of Cluster of Differentiation 117(CD117)Tumor Marker in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Abstract

This is a descriptive retrospective study aimed to evaluate the expression of cluster of differentiation molecule 117 (CD117) in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors using immunohistochemical method. Thirty formalin fixed paraffin block were collected from patients samples previously diagnosed as gastrointestinal stromal tumors at Radiation and Isotope Center-Khartoum- Sudan (7 of them were malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors and 23 them were benign gastrointestinal stromal tumors). The formalin fixed paraffin blocks were cut by rotary microtome, and then stained by immunohistochemical method for detection of CD117. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS program.The age of study samples ranged between one to 75 years with mean age of 51 years. The study revealed that the most patients were older than 50 years representing19 (63.3%) and the remaining 11(36.7%) were younger than 50 years.Out of thirty samples the study showed that the male female ratio is 3:1. CD117 result were positive in 28 (93.3%), and negative in 2 (6.7%). Concerning the association between CD117 and biological behaviour of tumor in study samples revealed that 22 (73.3%) positive expression and 1 (3.3%) were benign, 6 (20%) positive expression and 1(3.3%) negative expression were malignant. The study concluded that the CD117 expression showed positive result in gastrointestinal stromal tumors, with no statistical association with the biological behaviour of the tumor,benign or malignant