Immunohistochemical detection of P-glycoprotein in Ewing's sarcoma and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors before and after chemotherapy.

The authors evaluated P-glycoprotein expression in a total of 35 cases of Ewing's sarcoma and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET). Fifteen cases had matched tumors before and after treatment. The 20 unmatched tumors included 14 pretreatment PNETs and Ewing's sarcomas and 6 posttreatment Ewing's sarcomas. Two antibodies, C219 and JSB-1, were used. Immunoreactivity was almost exclusively membranous. Variability in the number of positive cells and in staining intensity was noted within individual tumors. Among the 15 matched tumors, 7 were positive for P-glycoprotein before treatment; 6 of these remained positive after treatment. Four of the 8 that were negative for P-glycoprotein before treatment became positive after treatment. Of the unmatched tumors, 9 of 14 pretreatment and 3 of 6 posttreatment tumors were positive. When relapse-free survival time, based on the presence or absence of P-glycoprotein positivity in pretreatment tumor samples, was evaluated in this group, no significant difference was found (P2 = .92); however, the numbers are too small to draw definitive conclusions. The high incidence of positive primary tumors suggests that P-glycoprotein expression is probably intrinsic in Ewing's sarcoma and PNET and not necessarily induced by therapy.