Clinical and biological considerations regarding glioma based on the TUNEL method and immunohistochemical staining using apoptosis-related antibodies.

We examined 36 gliomas both by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) technique and by immunostaining of antibodies against apoptosis-related antigens. The apoptotic index (AI) obtained by the TUNEL method was 10.77 +/- 3.78% in astrocytomas, 6.19 +/- 1.81% in anaplastic astrocytomas, and 5.21 +/- 1.14% in glioblastomas. The AI of anti-Fas antibody and Le(Y) antibody in gliomas also showed a similar tendency as the results with the TUNEL method. As a result, statistically significant differences were observed in the distribution of survival between the two groups according to the AI obtained by the TUNEL method. Therefore, an analysis of the AI is considered to be useful for prognosis.