Prognostic significance of Ki-67 labeling index in urothelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the prognostic significance of the Ki-67 labeling index in 70 patients with primary urothelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 in archival tumor materials was done by the streptavidin-biotin method.

RESULTS

Univariate survival analysis showed that the prognosis of patients with a high Ki-67 labeling index of 21.7 or more was significantly worse than that of patients with an intermediate labeling index of 13.3 to less than 21.7 (p < 0.01) or a low labeling index of less than 13.3 (p < 0.001). Multivariate survival analysis showed that staining for Ki-67 labeling index was significantly correlated with prognosis (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Analysis of Ki-67 labeling index provides useful prognostic information about patients with primary urothelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter.