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Mattiolo P, Fiadone G, Paolino G, Chatterjee D, Bernasconi R, Piccoli P, Parolini C, El Aidi M, Sperandio N, Malleo G, Salvia R, Brosens LA, Wood LD, Scarpa A, Lawlor RT, Luchini C. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas with and without osteoclast-like giant cells. Virchows Arch 2020; 478:319-326. [PMID: 32661742 PMCID: PMC7969490 DOI: 10.1007/s00428-020-02889-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Undifferentiated carcinoma (UC) and undifferentiated carcinoma with osteoclast-like giant cells (UCOGC) are peculiar variants of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), characterized by hypercellularity and absence of glandular patterns. The inflammatory microenvironment is peculiar in UCOGC, since it is dominated by macrophages and osteoclast-like giant cells. However, from a molecular point of view, both UC and UCOGC are very similar to conventional PDAC, sharing alterations of the most common genetic drivers. Clinically, UC usually show a worse prognosis, whereas UCOGC may show a better prognosis if it is not associated with a PDAC component. To highlight potential biological differences between these entities, we investigated the role of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in UC and UCOGC. Specifically, we analyzed the immunohistochemical expression of three well-known EMT markers, namely Twist1, Snai2, and E-cadherin, in 16 cases of UCOGC and 10 cases of UC. We found that EMT is more frequently activated in UC (10/10 cases) than in UCOGC (8/16 cases; p = 0.05). Furthermore, in UCOGC, EMT was activated with a higher frequency in cases with an associated PDAC component. Snai2 was the most frequently and strongly expressed marker in both tumor types (10/10 UC, 8/16 UCOGC), and its expression was higher in UC than in UCOGC (mean immunohistochemical score: 4.8 in UC vs. 2.1 in UCOGC, p < 0.01). Our results shed new light on the biology of UC and UCOGC: EMT appeared as a more important process in UC, and Snai2 emerged as a central EMT effector in this setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Mattiolo
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Giulia Fiadone
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Gaetano Paolino
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Deyali Chatterjee
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Riccardo Bernasconi
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Paola Piccoli
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Claudia Parolini
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Mouad El Aidi
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy.,Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Nicola Sperandio
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Malleo
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Roberto Salvia
- Department of Surgery, The Pancreas Institute, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Lodewijk A Brosens
- Department of Pathology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.,Department of Pathology, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Laura D Wood
- Department of Pathology, Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Aldo Scarpa
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy.,ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Rita T Lawlor
- ARC-Net Research Center, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Claudio Luchini
- Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Section of Pathology, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Piazzale Scuro, 10, 37134, Verona, Italy.
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