Department of Gynecology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Pathology and Molecular Genetics/Oncologic Pathology Group, Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, IRBLleida, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
Virchows Arch. 2018 Nov;473(5):591-598. doi: 10.1007/s00428-018-2444-8. Epub 2018 Aug 23.
Uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS) has been proposed as a model for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process characterized by a functional change facilitating migration and metastasis in many types of cancer. L1CAM is an adhesion molecule that has been involved in EMT as a marker for mesenchymal phenotype. We examined expression of L1CAM in UCS in a cohort of 90 cases from four different centers. Slides were immunohistochemically stained for L1CAM and scored in four categories (0%, < 10%, 10-50%, and > 50%). A score of more than 10% was considered positive for L1CAM. The median age at presentation was 68.6 years, and half of the patients (53.3%) presented with FIGO stage 1 disease. Membranous L1CAM expression was positive in the epithelial component in 65.4% of cases. Remarkably, expression was negative in the mesenchymal component. In cases where both components were intermingled, expression limited to the epithelial component was confirmed by a double stain for L1CAM and keratin. Expression of L1CAM did not relate to overall or disease-free survival. Our findings suggest L1CAM is either not a marker for the mesenchymal phenotype in EMT, or UCS is not a good model for EMT.
子宫癌肉瘤（UCS）被认为是上皮-间充质转化（EMT）的一个模型，EMT 是一种功能变化过程，促进了许多类型癌症的迁移和转移。L1CAM 是一种黏附分子，作为间充质表型的标志物，它已被牵涉到 EMT 中。我们在来自四个不同中心的 90 例病例队列中检查了 L1CAM 在 UCS 中的表达。使用 L1CAM 的免疫组织化学染色对切片进行评分，分为四个类别（0%、<10%、10-50%和>50%）。评分>10%被认为是 L1CAM 阳性。就诊时的中位年龄为 68.6 岁，一半的患者（53.3%）表现为 FIGO 分期 1 期疾病。在 65.4%的病例中，上皮成分中的 L1CAM 表达呈膜性阳性。值得注意的是，在间充质成分中表达为阴性。在两个成分混合的情况下，通过 L1CAM 和角蛋白的双重染色证实，表达仅限于上皮成分。L1CAM 的表达与总生存或无病生存无关。我们的研究结果表明，L1CAM 要么不是 EMT 中间充质表型的标志物，要么 UCS 不是 EMT 的一个很好的模型。
