Clinicopathological analysis of c-kit expression in carcinosarcomas and leiomyosarcomas of the uterine corpus

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of the protooncogene, c-kit, in carcinosarcomas and leiomyosarcomas of the uterine corpus and determine the associations between c-kit expression and clinicopathologic factors, including clinical outcome. Using a polyclonal anti-KIT-antibody, immunohistochemical staining was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 21 carcinosarcomas, 17 leiomyosarcomas, and 1 endometrial stromal sarcoma. KIT-positive tumors were defined as those tumors demonstrating immunopositivity in ≥30% of tumor cells examined. KIT-negative lesions demonstrated immunopositivity in