The clinicopathological significance of CD133 and Sox2 in astrocytic glioma

BACKGROUND The treatment strategies of astrocytoma have not changed considerably due to the restricted appreciation of its biology. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the expression of the stem cell-related proteins (CD133 and Sox2) and their prognostic value in astrocytic glioma. METHODS The immunohistochemical expression of CD133 and Sox2 in 40 patients with an astrocytic glioma of different grades was studied. The recorded data on the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and the response to the therapeutic protocol were collected and lastly analyzed. RESULTS CD133 expression was observed in 87.5% of the cases, while positive Sox2 expression was found in all the studied cases. There was a significant association of CD133 expression with the histological grade and the tumor size (p< 0.001). A significant association of Sox2 with the histological grade and the tumor size was noted (p= 0.004, p= 0.006 respectively). Up-regulation of both CD133 and Sox2 had a significant association with poor clinical response to the therapy (p< 0.001 for each). Shorter OS and PFS were related to CD133 and Sox2 overexpression. CONCLUSIONS Astrocytoma with CD133 and Sox2 overexpression had an unfavorable prognosis and poor clinical response to the current therapeutic protocol.