Proliferative index

Proliferation, as one of the hallmarks and most fundamental biological processes in tumors, is associated with tumor progression, response to therapy, and cancer patient survival. Consequently, the evaluation of a tumor proliferative index (or growth fraction) has clinical significance in characterizing many solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. This has led investigators to develop different technologies to evaluate the proliferation index in tumor samples. The most commonly used methods in evaluating a proliferative index include mitotic indexing, thymidine-labeling index, bromodeoxyuridine assay, the determination of fraction of cells in various phases of cell cycle, and the immunohistochemical evaluation of cell cycle-associated proteins.

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