Significance of Ki-67 in prognostication of soft tissue tumors

Background: Histological grading is the most important prognostic factors and the best indicator of metastatic risk in adult soft tissue sarcomas. It has been shown that Ki67 immunohistochemical (IHC) staining is an effective method of assessing the prognosis in a number of tumor types. Ki67 is a cell cycle antigen which is elevated in proliferation states. High level of Ki67 expression is an independent prognostic indicator that correlates with poor outcome in patients with sarcomas. Methods: In this study 53 cases of soft tissue tumor were selected and were classified according to FNCLCC system. IHC staining of Ki-67 was done in all the 53 samples. Diagnosis was made mainly based on histopathological pattern analysis and with the use of IHC. Results: By using FNCLCC grading soft tissue tumor cases were graded as grade I, II and  III. The correlation between the FNCLCC grading and Ki67 was done and it was observed that there was statistically significant positive correlation between Ki67 and the grade of the tumor, as evidenced by P- values of 0.002, 0.005 and 0.004. The correlation between the 5 FNCLCC grading and Ki67 index was also assessed. Statistically significant positive correlation between Ki67 index and the grade of the tumor was observed. Conclusion: There was significant correlation noted between FNCLCC grading and Ki-67 index. Thus it can be recommended that Ki-67 IHC stain should be done on routine basis to accurately grade the sarcomas so that it will be beneficia l for the management of the patient. DOI:10.21276/APALM.1550