Utilization of Wilms’ tumor 1 antigen in a panel for differential diagnosis of ovarian carcinomas

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian metasteses are often mistaken for primary adenocarcinoma. Studies conducted in recent years have focused on a search for an immunohistochemical marker to aid the differential diagnosis primary and metastatic ovarian carcinoma. Our study objective was to study the usefulness of Wilms tumor 1 (WT 1) antigen in this context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the pathology clinic of Lütfi Kırdar Training and Research Hospital. Deparaffinated blocks of 40 epithelial ovarian tumors, 40 colon adenocarcinomas, and 35 cases of omentum metastases were studied. Cytokeratin 7 (CK 7), cytokeratin 20 (CK 20), and WT 1 were applied to all specimens. RESULTS: All ovarian adenocarcinomas were stained with CK 7 (100%). Colorectal adenocarcinomas were stained positive with CK 20 in 87.5% of cases. Primary ovarian adenocarcinomas stained positive with WT 1 in 82.5% of the cases and none of the colorectal adenocarcinomas showed staining with WT 1 (0%). CONCLUSION: WT 1 can be used in conjuction with CK 7 in the differential diagnosis of ovarian carcinomas.