Evaluation of bcl-2 protein expression and 14;18 translocation as prognostic markers in follicular lymphoma.

Conflicting results have been published on the prognostic significance of t(14;18) in follicular lymphoma: Yunis et al. (1989) reported that its presence indicated poor response to therapy and short survival, whereas Levine et al. (1988) showed no difference in prognosis between cases with and without the translocation. However these results were based on small series of cases and on follow-up periods (no longer than 7 years) which are relatively short for a disease with such a slow clinical evolution. Here we report an investigation of 70 cases of follicular lymphoma with long term follow-up data (up to 17 years). This series has been studied for the presence of the 14;18 translocation and for the expression of bcl-2 protein. Our results show that there are no grounds for considering either the 14;18 translocation or the expression of the bcl-2 protein to be useful prognostic markers in clinical practice

The time-dependent localization of Ki 67 antigen-positive cells in human skin wounds

A total of 77 human skin wounds with a post-infliction interval between 3 h and 7 months were investigated and the proliferation marker antigen Ki 67 was visualized in paraffin sections using a specific monoclonal antibody (MIB). The re-built epidermal layer covering the former lesional area showed only a few basal cells positively staining for Ki 67 antigen. No enhanced reactivity was found when compared to uninjured skin. In basal cells of the epidermis adjacent to the wound area, however, varying numbers of positive cells occurred, but no information useful for a reliable time estimation of skin wounds could be obtained due to the considerable variability in the number of Ki 67 positive epidermal basal cells found in non-damaged skin. Fibroblastic cells in the wound area revealed an increased number of Ki 67-positive sites which could first be detected in a 1.5-day-old skin lesion. Positive results could be obtained in every specimen investigated after a post-infliction interval of 6 days up to 1.5 months. Only the scar tissue of the oldest wound examined (wound age 7 months) revealed no increase in the number of positively staining fibroblasts. Therefore, positive results indicate a wound age of at least approximately 1.5 days and the lack of an increased number of positive fibroblastic cells in a sufficient number of specimens indicates at a wound age of less than 6 days, but cannot totally exclude longer post-infliction intervals