Immunohistochemical Expression of Ki - 67 , PCNA and CD34 in Astrocytomas: A Clinicopathological Study

To assess the immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67 and Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) as proliferative markers to study proliferative activity and CD34 as an endothelial cell marker in order to study vascular proliferation in astrocytomas in correlation with some clinicopathological parameters (age, gender, site of the tumor, and tumor grade). A retrospective study wherein a total of 51 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain astrocytoma excisional biopsies covering the period of June 2009 to February 2011 were retrieved from the archival materials of the Specialized Surgical Hospital in Medical City in Baghdad, Iraq. The histopathological diagnosis had been revised and all cases were stained by immunohistochemical technique with Ki-67, PCNA, and CD34 tumor markers. Values were considered statistically significant when p