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Mki67

Mki67

Overview

Mki67 encodes Ki-67, a widely used nuclear protein and canonical marker of cellular proliferation. In pathology and experimental biology, Ki-67 immunostaining is commonly used to estimate the fraction of actively cycling cells, making it an important biomarker in tumor grading, prognosis, and treatment response assessment. Although often treated as a proliferation readout rather than a direct therapeutic target, Ki-67 expression is frequently analyzed alongside cell-cycle regulators such as CDK1, CCNA2, CCNB1, and Cdk4/6-related pathways, as well as signaling networks including MAPK, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK, AMPK, and JAK/STAT.

Recent studies continue to use Mki67 as a marker of tumor growth, tissue regeneration, and drug response across cancer, wound healing, and organ repair models. In this context, reduced Ki-67 staining generally indicates suppressed proliferation or therapeutic efficacy, whereas increased Ki-67 positivity is interpreted as enhanced regenerative or proliferative activity depending on the biological setting.

Focus of Latest Publications

Recent publications have continued to evaluate Mki67/Ki-67 primarily as a proliferation-associated biomarker, with growing interest in whether its expression can be predicted noninvasively and how it relates to tumor aggressiveness and treatment response. In hepatocellular carcinoma, a dual-center study used T2-weighted MRI habitat analysis to link T2WI-derived parameters with Ki-67 status and aggressiveness. A separate computational study of BPA-related hepatocarcinogenesis identified MKI67 among six hub genes upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma, with high internal diagnostic accuracy reported for the gene set, although the authors noted that external validation is still needed.

Several recent studies focused on imaging- and deep learning-based prediction of Ki-67 expression in solid tumors. In gliomas, a multimodal ConvNeXt-Tiny deep learning model was developed to simultaneously predict IDH mutation status and Ki-67 expression level. In breast cancer, Ki-67 was examined as a predictor of pathological complete response and invasive disease-free survival in HER2-positive disease, while another large prospective observational analysis in hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative early breast cancer assessed clinical and molecular predictors of endocrine therapy response after short preoperative treatment, noting that low Ki-67 after endocrine therapy indicates a favorable prognosis.

Beyond its use as a biomarker, one study reported a functional role for Ki-67 in metastasis. Using single-cell transcriptomics of circulating tumor cells and in vivo CRISPR screening in breast cancer mouse models, investigators found that Ki-67 was required for circulating tumor cell intravasation and metastatic competence. Ki-67 knockout reduced metastasis without curbing proliferation, and the effect was linked to reduced expression of genes involved in cell-cell adhesion, including CD47 and KLF4, suggesting a role in collective invasion dynamics rather than proliferation alone.

Ki-67 was also incorporated into studies of tumor biology and pathology in other settings. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a mouse model of intrapancreatic fat deposition showed increased MKI67 expression alongside FABP5 upregulation and activation of JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathways, with associated acceleration of tumor growth and metastasis. In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a prospective observational study compared dose-adjusted EPOCH-R with R-CHOP in patients with high Ki-67 expression. In hepatic neuroendocrine tumors, Ki-67 was listed among key biomarkers used in diagnosis and treatment planning. In a nail tumor study, normal Ki67 expression helped rule out in situ onycholemmal carcinoma/malignant onychopapilloma, supporting the benign diagnosis.

Key Publications

  • NEWJun Prediction of Ki-67 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma: a dual-center study based on T2-weighted imaging habitat analysis. (Radiology and oncology, 2026, PMID 42359754): "This study aimed to link T2WI habitat-derived parameters to Ki-67 status and aggressiveness in HCC."
  • NEWJun A multimodal ConvNeXt-Tiny deep learning model for simultaneous prediction of IDH mutation and Ki-67 expression in gliomas. (PloS one, 2026, PMID 42361071): "To construct and validate a multi-task deep learning model based on ConvNeXt-Tiny for synchronous prediction of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status and Ki-67 expression level in gliomas."
  • Jun High intrapancreatic fat deposition accelerates pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma growth and metastasis with enrollment of FABP5 upregulation. (Scientific reports, 2026, PMID 42251134): "RNA sequencing of pancreatic tissue from this group revealed increased fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) 5 and MKI67 expression, along with an upregulation of the JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathways."
  • May Comparison of dose-adjusted EPOCH-R and R-CHOP in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with high Ki67 expression: Results from a prospective observational study. (PloS one, 2026, PMID 42172280): "To compare the safety and efficacy of first-line dose-adjusted EPOCH-R (DA-EPOCH-R) versus R-CHOP treatment in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with high Ki67 expression."
  • May Ki-67 promotes circulating tumor cell intravasation and metastasis in breast cancer. (Cell reports, 2026, PMID 42139058): "Ki-67, a canonical proliferation marker, represents a pivotal prognostic and predictive biomarker in breast cancer."
  • May Integrating network toxicology with multi-omics approaches to elucidate molecular targets and pathway mechanisms in BPA-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. (Molecular diversity, 2026, PMID 42118483): "Six hub genes (MKI67, CCNA2, EZH2, CCNB1, CDK1, BIRC5) were significantly upregulated in HCC with high internal cross-validated diagnostic accuracy (AUC > 0.96), although these estimates may be susceptible to overfitting and require external validation."
  • May The predictive role of Ki67 in pathological complete response (pCR) and invasive disease-free survival (IDFS) in HER2-positive breast cancer: a bi-centric retrospective cohort study of 244 cases. (Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 2026, PMID 42068346): "The purpose of this study was to examine whether Ki67-scores have a predictive significance for pathological complete response (pCR) and invasive disease-free survival (IDFS) in HER2-positive breast cancer."
  • May New Pathological Insights into Biomarkers for Multimodal Therapeutic Approach in Hepatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Detailed Case Report. (In vivo (Athens, Greece), 2026, PMID 42049452): "Current biomarkers for neuroendocrine tumors including chromogranin A, synaptophysin, Ki-67, somatostatin receptors, mammalian target of rapamycin, vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptor, and O 6-methylguanine-DNA methyl transferase are important in diagnosis and treatment of NETs."
  • May Onychopapilloma Is a Nail Bed Onycholemmal Papilloma: A Clinical and Histological Study of 56 Cases, Including Seborrheic Keratosis-Like Lesions. (The American Journal of dermatopathology, 2026, PMID 42012242): "However, the absence of nuclear atypia confirmed by the normal expression of Ki67 and p53 ruled out in situ onycholemmal carcinoma/malignant OP."
  • Apr Clinical and molecular biomarkers for prediction of endocrine response after short preoperative endocrine therapy in the WSG ADAPT-HR+/HER2- and ADAPTcycle trials (N = 7914). (Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology, 2026, PMID 41999978): "Low Ki67 after short preoperative endocrine therapy (ET) indicates a favorable prognosis in hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative early breast cancer (eBC)."
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