Prognostic Value of Snail-1and Beta-Catenin Immunostaining in Astrocytoma.

Background: Astrocytoma is the commonest central nervous system tumor worldwide. Searching in molecular pathogenic processes of its progression is necessary to identify novel therapeutic targets to improve the clinical outcome of patients. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the process by which cells lose their adhesive properties with surrounding cells and then they transformed into mesenchymal-like and motile phenotypes. Snail-1 is a zinc finger transcription factor that plays an essential role in EMT. Beta-catenin is a protein that binds to the cytoplasmic tail of E-cadherin. In the presence of mutations of Wnt-signal; it promotes transcription of several target genes involved in cell proliferation. Aim of the work: To asses Snail-1 and Beta-catenin immune-expressions in astrocytoma of different grades in a trial to detect their prognostic values in that tumor. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining of Snail-1 and Beta-catenin was evaluated in 60 paraffin blocks of astrocytoma grades II, III and IV. The relationships between their expressions and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. Results: The expressions of snail-1 and beta-catenin were signifi?cantly associated with astrocytoma grade (p=0.001 and 0.007 respectively) type of surgery, performance status, response to treatment (p <0.001) and progression of the tumor (p=0.048, 0.012 respectively). High Snail-1 and high Beta-catenin immune-expressions were inversely related to The 1, 2 and 3-year OS (P <0.001). Conclusion: Snail-1 and beta-catenin expressions were frequently increased in astrocytoma and significantly associated with poor prognosis.