Human DNA Topoisomerase II-α expression in laparoscopically treated renal cell carcinoma

To investigate whether the expression of Topoisomerase II-α (TII-α) can serve as a prognostic factor in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), histological sections from 27 renal tumors were stained immunohistochemically for TII-α expression. The percentage of positive cells in the area of greatest staining was recorded as the TII-α index. TII-α nuclear staining was positive in all the samples except one. The mean TII-α index was 12.5 for grade 1, 44 for grade 2 and 113 for grade 3 tumors. The mean TII-α index was 22.3 in tumors which did not recur and 81 for tumors which recurred during the follow-up period. In this study, a higher TII-α index correlated with more aggressive tumor behaviour. However, a large cohort of patients should be assessed before drawing definitive conclusions.