IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GAMMA CATENIN IN WILMS' TUMORS

The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of γ-catenin in normal kidney and in Wilms' tumor by immunohistochemistry and to correlate the results with tumor stage, histological type, and prognostic group. We investigated 28 cases of Wilms' tumor, 2 Wilms' tumor metastases in lungs, and 1 specimen of normal renal tissue. Expression of γ-catenin was detected in 14 cases. There was a weak inverse relationship between γ-catenin expression and tumor stage. Expression of γ-catenin was detected in various histologic types of Wilms' tumor, but there was no statistically significant correlation, except in cases with diffuse anaplasia that were negative. In 2 metastatic cases and in the case of bilateral Wilms' tumor γ-catenin immunostaining was not observed Our findings suggest an absence of strong correlation between the loss of γ-catenin and unfavorable outcome.