Immunophenotype of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors As Detected in Cases with EWS-WT1 Gene Fusion Product Paul J
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Immunophenotype of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors as Detected in Cases with EWS-WT1 Gene Fusion Product Paul J. Zhang, M.D., John R. Goldblum, M.D., Bruce R. Pawel, M.D., Cyril Fisher, M.D., Teresa L. Pasha, B.S., Frederic G. Barr, M.D., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (PJZ, TLP, FGB), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio (JRG); Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (BRP), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom (CF) immunoreactivity was present in 29% of desmoplastic Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a rare tumor small round cell tumors. HER2/neu overexpression -typically involving peritoneum. Although the histo- (3؉) and c-kit expression are uncommon in desmo genesis of desmoplastic small round cell tumor has yet plastic small round cell tumors. A panel of myogenic to be elucidated, immunophenotypical and morpho- and epithelial markers should be used to detect the logical analysis shows a characteristic divergent phe- divergent phenotype in desmoplastic small round cell notype overlapping with other round cell tumors such tumors, a key feature in the differential diagnosis. as Ewing’s sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tu- Detection of EWS-WT1 fusion becomes critical for the mor, rhabdomyosarcoma, small cell mesothelioma, diagnosis when the characteristic divergent pheno- and carcinoma. Detection of the EWS-WT1 gene fu- type cannot be detected immunohistochemically. sion is characteristic of desmoplastic small round cell tumor and has been used reliably in tumor diagnosis. In this study, we evaluated the immunophenotype of KEY WORDS: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor, 23 desmoplastic small round cell tumor cases with the EWS-WT1 fusion product, HER2/neu, Immun- EWS-WT1 gene fusion product identified by reverse ophenotype. transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Paraffin sec- Mod Pathol 2003;16(3):229–235 tions were stained with antibodies against calretinin, WT1 (C19), desmin, myoglobin, MyoD, Myf5, myoge- Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a rare but nin, placental alkaline phosphatase, cytokeratins, distinct entity with aggressive clinical behavior (1, MIC2, HER2/neu and c-kit using standard immuno- 2). It was originally described as a tumor primarily histochemical methods. Immunoreactivity was evalu- involving the abdominal peritoneum, with charac- ated semiquantitively by light microscopy. Desmo- teristic small round cell morphology (1, 3–5). Al- plastic small round cell tumors showed reactivity with though the histogenesis of desmoplastic small calretinin in 4/21, desmin in 21/23, myoglobin in 5/17, round cell tumor has yet to be elucidated, immu- placental alkaline phosphatase in 17/21, HER2/neu in nophenotypical analysis shows a polyphenotypic 3؉ in 1 and 1؉ in 6), c-kit in 2/14, MIC2 in 13/23, differentiation overlapping with other round cell) 7/18 WT1 in 16/23, CAM5.2 in 21/23, and AE1/3 in 16/23 tumors such as Ewing’s sarcoma/peripheral neuro- cases. The most sensitive myogenic and epithelial ectodermal tumors, rhabdomyosarcoma, Wilms’ markers are desmin and CAM 5.2. Although nuclear tumor, small cell mesothelioma, and carcinoma (1– reactivity of the early myogenic regulatory factors 5). Genetic studies revealed a characteristic trans- (MyoD, myogenin, Myf5) was not detected, myoglobin location between the EWS gene on chromosome 22 and the WT1 gene on chromosome 11, resulting in Copyright © 2003 by The United States and Canadian Academy of an EWS-WT1 fusion gene (6–8). Detection of EWS- Pathology, Inc. WT1 fusion transcript by reverse transcription- VOL. 16, NO. 3, P. 229, 2003 Printed in the U.S.A. Date of acceptance: December 7, 2002. polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been used Funded in part by National Institutes of Health Grants CA89461 and reliably to enhance our ability to diagnose desmo- CA64202 (to FGB). Address reprint requests to: Paul J. Zhang, M.D., Anatomic Pathology, 6 plastic small round cell tumor, particularly for Founders Pavilion, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, 3400 those arising outside the abdominal cavity and Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147; fax: 215-349-5910; e-mail: [email protected]. those with unusual morphologic variation (2, 7, 9). DOI: 10.1097/01.MP.0000056630.76035.F3 Comprehensive immunohistochemical analysis has 229 been performed on desmoplastic small round cell of the authors (FGB) and collected from the surgical tumors in several large series, only few of which had pathology files of the authors’ institutions. The molecular confirmation of the diagnosis in the EWS-WT1 gene transcript was previously identified cases studied (2). In the current study, immunohis- in frozen tissue samples of these cases using a RT- tochemical evaluation of various markers related to PCR method as described elsewhere (18). The im- epithelial, myogenic, and mesothelial differentia- munohistochemical panel consisted of antibodies tion was performed on a series of desmoplastic against the mesothelial markers: calretinin and small round cell tumors that showed EWS-WT1 fu- WT1(WT C-19 against the carboxy terminus of the sion transcript by RT-PCR. protein); the myoid/myogenic markers: desmin, Proto-oncoproteins c-kit (CD117) and HER2/neu myoglobin, MyoD, Myf5 and myogenin; cytokera- are both transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors tins: CAM5.2, AE1/3; proto-oncoproteins: c-kit, that belong to the platelet-derived growth factor HER2/neu and others: placental alkaline phospha- receptor (PDGFR) or epidermal growth factor re- tase and MIC2 (CD99; Table 1). Four-micrometer- ceptor family, respectively (10, 11). Expression of thick paraffin sections were used for standard im- c-kit has been detected in some mesenchymal tu- munohistochemical methods. Sections were mors such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and pretreated by heating and enzyme digestion ac- Ewing’s sarcomas/primitive neuroectodermal tu- cordingly (Table 1). The heating method involved mors (12–14). Recently, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor a 1100-W microwave oven at 70% power level or a specific for the PDGFR family (STI571) and human- Black & Decker steamer at 95° C with 1ϫ citrate ized monoclonal antibody against HER2/neu (Her- ϫ ceptin) have been reported to have therapeutic ef- buffer at pH 6.0 (Lab Vision) or 1 Target Re- fects in tumors expressing either aberrant forms or trieval Buffer (DAKO, Carpinteria, CA), accord- high quantities of the corresponding target protein ingly (Table 1). Immunohistochemical staining (15–17). Therefore, STI571 or Herceptin might be was performed on an autostainer (DAKO) with effective in treating tumors positive for c-kit or EnVision kit (DAKO) for all antibodies except HER2/neu by immunohistochemistry. Little is MyoD and WT1, for which staining was per- known about the status of HER2/neu and c-kit im- formed on a Techmate autostainer (Biotech/Ven- munoreactivity in DSRCT. In this study, we also tana, Tucson, AZ) with the avidin-biotin complex evaluated the immunoreactivity of HER2 and c-kit method (ChemMate, Biotech/Ventana, Tucson, in desmoplastic small round cell tumors in the AZ). Based on the intensity of the immunoreac- same series of cases with molecular evidence of the tivity and the percentage of positive tumor cells, EWS/WT1 fusion. immunoreactivity was scored semiquantitively as Fϩ (any intensity but Յ20%), 1ϩ (weak intensity Ͼ20% but Յ50%), 2ϩ (weak intensity Ͼ50%, MATERIALS AND METHODS moderate Ͼ20% but Յ75%, or strong Ͼ20% but Twenty-three desmoplastic small round cell tu- Յ50%), and 3ϩ (moderate intensity Ͼ75% or mors were identified in the consultation file of one strong intensity and Ͼ50%). TABLE 1. Antibodies Used in the Study Antibody Clone Source Titer Antigen Retrieval Calretinin Polyclonal ZYMED, So. San Francisco, CA 1:50 Microwave, 8 minutes, 1X Citrate Buffer at pH6.0 WT1 (C-19) Polyclonal Santa Cruz, Fremont, CA 1:400 Microwave, 8 minutes, 1X Citrate Buffer at pH6.0 Desmin Polyclonal DAKO, Carpinteria, CA 1:400 NA Myoglobin Polyclonal DAKO 1:40K NA MyoD 5.8A DAKO 1:25 Steamer, 15 minutes, Target Retrieval Buffer (DAKO) Myogenin F5D DAKO 1:50 Microwave, 8 minutes, Target Retrieval Buffer (DAKO) Myf5 (C20) Polyclonal Santa Cruz 1:50 Microwave, 8 minutes, Target Retrieval Buffer (DAKO) CAM5.2 CAM 5.2 Beck-Dickinson 1:25 Microwave, 8 minutes in 1X Citrate Buffer at pH6.0 AE1/3 AE1 & AE 3 DAKO 1:40 0.01%Trypsin, 15 minutes at 37°C PLAP 8A9 DAKO 1:25 Microwave, 8 minutes, Target Retrieval Buffer (DAKO) MIC 2 12E7 DAKO 1:25 Microwave, 8 minutes in 1X Citrate Buffer at pH6.0 HER2/neu TAB250 ZYMED 1:10 Ficin (ZYMED), 15 minutes at 37°C c-kit Polyclonal DAKO 1:100 Microwave, 8 minutes, 1X Citrate Buffer at pH6.0 230 Modern Pathology TABLE 2. Immunohistochemical phenotype of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors CAM5.2 AE1/3 DES PLAP MYO MyoD MYG Myf5 CALR MIC2 WT1 HER2 c-kit Nϭ 23 23 23 21 17 20 22 21 21 23 23 18 14 Neg 2 7 2 4 11 20 22 21 15 10 5 11 12 Fϩ 4434100031202* 1ϩ 3766400015240 2ϩ 3476000007320 3ϩ 11 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 21/23 16/23 21/23 17/21 5/17 4/21 13/23 16/23 7/18 2/14 Totalϩ (91%) (70%) (91%) (81%) (29%) 0 0 0 (19%) (57%) (70%) (39%) (14%) F Յ 20%. 1ϩ. Weak Ͼ20 but Յ 50%. 2ϩ. Weak Ͼ50%. Moderate Ͼ20% but Յ 75%. Strong Ͼ20% but Յ 50%. 3ϩ Moderate Ͼ 75%. Strong Ͼ50%. * Rare cells only. DES ϭ desmin; MYO ϭ myoglobin; MYG ϭ myogenin; CALR ϭ calretinin; PLAP ϭ placental alkaline phosphatase. RESULTS The results of the immunohistochemical analysis on desmoplastic small round cell tumors were sum- marized on Table 2. In addition to a higher fre- quency of positivity than that of AE1/3, CAM5.2 immunoreactivity was always stronger (n ϭ 11) than or equal (n ϭ 5) to that of AE1/3 (Fig.