OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of minichromosome maintenance protein 6 (MCM6) in tissue sections of craniopharyngioma and observe its relation with the outcome of patients with craniopharyngiomas. METHODS: Prospective cohorts were composed of 32 adamantine epithelioma (AE) patients and 31 squamous papillary tumor (SP) patients. The average of follow-up phase was 84. 26 months, of 60 patients with craniopharyngioma, 20 suffered from recurrence and underwent operation again for removal of tumor, and the specimens of the tumors patients were collected. MCM6 as proliferative marker expression in the specimen sections was measured by immunohistochemical method (avidin-biotin-peroxidase); quantitatively, scoring for MCM6 protein variation was performed by TE2000-U inverted biological microscope and Image-Pro Plus professional image analysis software. Oncocyte proliferation potential was evaluated for inter-group comparison in three pair of groups, including AE/SP, recurrence/recurrence-free, and primary/relapse groups. RESULTS: 14 of 32 AE patients and 6 of 31 SP patients had recurrence during follow-up. MCM6 protein expression showed significant difference between AE/SP groups and between recurrence/recurrence-free groups (P < 0.05, two-tailed), but there was no statistically significant difference between primary and recurrent craniopharyngiomas. CONCLUSION: The subtype and MCM6 protein expression in craniopharyngiomas are related to the prognosis of tumor and thus may be useful in predicting the risk of tumor relapse.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of minichromosome maintenance protein 6 (MCM6) in tissue sections of craniopharyngioma and observe its relation with the outcome of patients with craniopharyngiomas. METHODS: Prospective cohorts were composed of 32 adamantineepithelioma (AE) patients and 31 squamous papillary tumor (SP) patients. The average of follow-up phase was 84. 26 months, of 60 patients with craniopharyngioma, 20 suffered from recurrence and underwent operation again for removal of tumor, and the specimens of the tumorspatients were collected. MCM6 as proliferative marker expression in the specimen sections was measured by immunohistochemical method (avidin-biotin-peroxidase); quantitatively, scoring for MCM6 protein variation was performed by TE2000-U inverted biological microscope and Image-Pro Plus professional image analysis software. Oncocyte proliferation potential was evaluated for inter-group comparison in three pair of groups, including AE/SP, recurrence/recurrence-free, and primary/relapse groups. RESULTS: 14 of 32 AE patients and 6 of 31 SPpatients had recurrence during follow-up. MCM6 protein expression showed significant difference between AE/SP groups and between recurrence/recurrence-free groups (P < 0.05, two-tailed), but there was no statistically significant difference between primary and recurrent craniopharyngiomas. CONCLUSION: The subtype and MCM6 protein expression in craniopharyngiomas are related to the prognosis of tumor and thus may be useful in predicting the risk of tumor relapse.