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The Retinoblastoma Family Member pRb2/p130 Is an Independent Predictor of Survival in Human Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia; ² Department of Pathology, San Giovanni Battista Hospital and ³ Department of Medical Oncology, Gradenigo Hospital, Turin, Italy; ⁴ Division of Gynecologic Oncology and ⁵ Institute of General Pathology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy; and ⁶ CROM, Centro Ricerche Oncologiche Mercogliano, Avellino, Italy

Requests for reprints: Antonio Giordano, Sbarro Health Research Organization, Center for Biotechnology, Temple University, 1900 North 12th Street, Philadelphia PA 19107-6799. Phone: 215-204-9520; Fax: 215-204-9522; E-mail: giordano{at}temple.edu.

Purpose: pRb2/p130, a member of the Retinoblastoma gene family, has been shown to be a powerful prognostic factor in several malignancies. We sought to evaluate pRb2/p130 protein expression and its clinical effect in patients affected with soft tissue sarcomas (STS).

Experimental Design: Expression of pRb2/p130 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections in 41 STSs. Results obtained were correlated with clinicopathologic variables and disease-free and overall survival (OS) in univariate and multivariate analysis.

Results: Expression of pRb2/p130 was diminished in 25 (61%) tumors, whereas the remaining ones (39%) were classified as high expressors. No correlation between pRb2/p130 expression and clinicopathologic variables was observed. However, a direct relationship between pRb2/p130 expression and clinical outcome of the patients was found in the subgroup of nonmetastatic tumors (n = 31). In univariate analysis, reduced pRb2/p130 expression was a negative prognostic factor and correlated with shorter disease-free survival (P = 0.021) and OS (P = 0.017) survival. In multivariate analysis, reduced pRb2/p130 expression was confirmed to be an independent predictor of shorter OS when considered together with tumor stage and grading (risk ratio, 7.893; confidence interval, 1.618-38.509; P = 0.011).

Conclusions: This study shows for the first time the potential prognostic value of pRb2/130 expression evaluated on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections in STSs patients. pRb2/p130 immunoreactivity can be used to predict OS in patients with nonmetastatic STSs and, therefore, may represent a new prognostic marker.