Institute of Pathology at the Johanniter Hospital Stendal, Germany.
J Clin Pathol. 2013 Apr;66(4):297-301. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2012-201262. Epub 2013 Jan 31.
Overexpression of periostin, a secreted cell adhesion molecule, has been reported to enhance invasion and angiogenesis in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) derived from different anatomic sites. We studied the so far neglected periostin expression profiles in penile SCCs and evaluated its association with pertinent clinicopathologic variables.
Paraffin-embedded tissues from 89 patients with surgically treated penile SCCs were subjected to a central histopathologic review performed by one pathologist. Then, tissue microarray technique was employed for periostin immunostaining which was evaluated by two independent raters. Kappa (κ)-statistics were used to assess interobserver variability. Spearman correlations as well as uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis were applied to assess the association between periostin expression and clinicopathologic parameters. Mean postsurgical follow-up was 31.5 months (IQR 6-66).
Periostin expression was recorded in 39/89 penile SCCs (44%). K-statistics disclosed substantial interobserver agreement for epithelial and stromal staining evaluation (K-values 0.76 vs 0.83, p values <0.001). High periostin expression in either stroma or tumour epithelia showed a significant positive correlation with tumour size, histologic grade and pT-stage. In the multivariable Cox models including pT-stage, pN status, grading and the patients' age at the time of surgery, periostin expression independently predicted cancer-specific survival (CSS).
Immunohistochemically, periostin is not infrequently expressed in penile cancer, and might become a valuable tool to independently predict CSS after surgical treatment. Further studies should clarify the so far unresolved usefulness of periostin to be employed as a possible molecular target in antineoplastic therapy in metastasised penile SCCs.
已有报道称，细胞黏附分子骨桥蛋白的过表达可增强不同解剖部位来源的鳞状细胞癌（SCC）的侵袭和血管生成。我们研究了迄今为止被忽视的阴茎 SCC 中的骨桥蛋白表达谱，并评估了其与相关临床病理变量的关系。
对 89 例接受手术治疗的阴茎 SCC 患者的石蜡包埋组织进行了由一名病理学家进行的中心组织病理学复查。然后，采用组织微阵列技术进行骨桥蛋白免疫染色，由两名独立的评分者进行评估。采用 Kappa（κ）统计评估观察者间的变异性。应用 Spearman 相关性以及单变量和多变量 Cox 比例风险分析评估骨桥蛋白表达与临床病理参数之间的关系。平均术后随访时间为 31.5 个月（IQR 6-66）。
在 89 例阴茎 SCC 中，有 39 例（44%）记录到骨桥蛋白表达。K 统计表明，上皮和基质染色评估的观察者间一致性较高（K 值分别为 0.76 和 0.83，p 值均＜0.001）。基质或肿瘤上皮中高骨桥蛋白表达与肿瘤大小、组织学分级和 pT 分期呈显著正相关。在包括 pT 分期、pN 状态、分级和手术时患者年龄的多变量 Cox 模型中，骨桥蛋白表达独立预测癌症特异性生存（CSS）。
免疫组织化学染色显示，骨桥蛋白在阴茎癌中表达并不少见，可能成为独立预测手术治疗后 CSS 的有用工具。进一步的研究应阐明骨桥蛋白作为转移性阴茎 SCC 中抗肿瘤治疗的潜在分子靶标的作用仍存在争议。
