Aims: To study the pattern of expression and prognostic importance of c-erbB-2 protein in cervical carcinoma. Methods: Sixty two cases of stage IB/IIA cervical carcinoma, representing the three main tumour types, were investigated immunohistochemically for the presence ofc-erbB-2 protein expression, using a monoclonal antibody (CB 1) to its internal domain. Follow up of at least five years' duration was available in all cases. Results: Definite membrane staining was seen in 38-7% of cases. There was a strong correlation with poor survival (p < 0.0001) particularly. For those with adenocarcinomas, this was the case when nodal metastases were present. In contrast, for squamous carcinomas and adenosquamous carcinomas, the association with a poor prognosis was most apparent in those patients without lymph node metastases.Conclusions: These findings raise the possibility that immunostaining for c-erbB-2 protein could be used as a prognostic marker and may help identify those patients for whom early adjuvant treatment might be beneficial.

Aims: To investigate the pattern of epidermal growth factor receptor expression and its prognostic value in the three main types of cervical carcinoma. Methods: 62 cases of stage IB/IIA cervical carcinoma, all with a minimum of five years of follow up, were studied. Representative sections were stained for mucin to permit accurate tumour typing and a standard avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique using the polyclonal antibody 12E was used to demonstrate the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor. Results: A proportion of all three tumour types expressed epidermal growth factor receptor, it being most common in squamous cell carcinomas (50%). Overall, there was a correlation between epidermal growth factor expression and mortality. This was particularly obvious in the absence of lymph node metastases. When the individual tumour types were considered this association with prognosis was not demonstrable for squamous cell carcinomas or adenocarcinomas but was a very prominent feature of adenosquamous carcinomas. Conclusions: Imimunohistochemical demonstration of epidermal growth factor receptor expression may be usefil in identifying those patients with a poor prognosis, particularly those with adenosquamous carcinomas which have not metastasised to the regional lymph nodes.

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The filamentous components of the cytoskeleton in smooth muscle cells of leiomyomata and normal myometrium were studied by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Fourteen patients hysterectomised for non-malignant disease provided leiomyomata of conventional histological type and histologically normal myometrium: four samples of fetal myometrium were studied by immunohistochemistry alone. All samples of leiomyoma and myometrium were strongly positive for alpha-smooth muscle actin and desmin, the latter often as paranuclear columns or granules. Vimentin was also stained in most samples but less intensely, while cytokeratin stained in about half the samples with an intensity comparable to that of vimentin. By electron microscopy, myofilaments with focal densities were abundant in both normal myometrium and leiomyomata. Intermediate filaments corresponding to the desmin and vimentin demonstrated by immunohistochemistry were also recognised in a variety of architectural arrangements. At one extreme, comparatively small numbers of filaments were loosely distributed around membranous organelles; at the other, filaments formed conspicuous aggregates, largely excluding other organelles and corresponding to the paranuclear granules seen by immunohistochemistry. A comparison of these findings with those of the literature and comments on the possible significance and origin of these aggregates are provided.