Expression of ras p21 protein by thymoma.

Histopathological examination of thymomas often fails to predict their malignant potential because the morphology of invasive or metastatic thymomas does not differ significantly from that of benign, encapsulated thymomas. In order to find a marker of aggressiveness in thymomas, 21 cases (9 non-invasive, 8 invasive and 4 metastatic thymomas) were examined for expression of the ras oncogene product p21 by immunohistochemistry and immunoblot analysis. Immunohistochemical study, using a serially diluted monoclonal antibody, NCC-RAS-001, demonstrated that neoplastic thymoma cells generally contained more p21 than normal thymic epithelial cells. Immunoblot analysis using another monoclonal antibody (NCC-RAS-004) also confirmed the increased concentration of p21 in all but one of the thymomas by comparison with normal thymic tissue. One metastatic thymoma did not have a band of p21 recognized by NCC-RAS-004 and was believed to have a deletion of the epitope recognized by this antibody. In addition, another metastatic thymoma showed abnormal electrophoretic mobility of p21. The increased amount of p21 in thymomas suggests that this protein has a role in the oncogenesis or progression of thymoma. The high incidence of a p21 molecular abnormality in metastatic thymomas indicates that the abnormality of this protein could be used as a possible marker of aggressive behavior.