Ebisu Yusuke, Ishida Mitsuaki, Mizokami Tomomi, Kita Masato, Okada Hidetaka, Tsuta Koji
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Osaka 573-1010, Japan.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Osaka 573-1010, Japan.
Mol Clin Oncol. 2020 Aug;13(2):115-118. doi: 10.3892/mco.2020.2051. Epub 2020 May 22.
Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the endometrium is an extremely rare and highly aggressive carcinoma. Sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is a master transcription factor regulating the self-renewal, maintenance of stem cell properties and pluripotency of embryonic stem cells, and recent studies revealed that SOX2 plays important roles in cancer growth and progression in several types of carcinomas, including small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the lung and oesophagus. Few studies to date have analysed the association between SOX2 and endometrioid carcinoma, whereas the expression of SOX2 in small-cell NEC of the endometrium has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to analyse the expression status of SOX2, p16 and paired-box gene (PAX) 8, a useful Müllerian marker, in endometrial small-cell NEC. A total of 4 patients with small-cell NEC of the endometrium were enrolled (median age, 70 years). Immunohistochemical studies revealed SOX2 expression in 3 patients and p16 expression in all patients. No patients exhibited positive immunoreactivity for PAX8. SOX2 expression has been reported to be associated with the pathogenesis of small-cell NEC of the oesophagus. Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that SOX2 expression plays an important role in the development of small-cell NEC of the endometrium and the oesophagus. Moreover, expression of p16 and loss of PAX8 do not indicate the origin of small-cell NEC of the endometrium.
子宫内膜小细胞神经内分泌癌（NEC）是一种极其罕见且侵袭性很强的癌症。性别决定区Y盒2（SOX2）是一种主要转录因子，可调节胚胎干细胞的自我更新、干细胞特性维持及多能性，最近的研究表明，SOX2在包括肺和食管小细胞神经内分泌癌（NEC）在内的几种癌症的生长和进展中发挥重要作用。迄今为止，很少有研究分析SOX2与子宫内膜样癌之间的关联，而SOX2在子宫内膜小细胞NEC中的表达尚未得到研究。本研究的目的是分析SOX2、p16和配对盒基因（PAX）8（一种有用的苗勒氏管标志物）在子宫内膜小细胞NEC中的表达情况。共纳入4例子宫内膜小细胞NEC患者（中位年龄70岁）。免疫组织化学研究显示，3例患者有SOX2表达，所有患者均有p16表达。没有患者表现出PAX8免疫反应阳性。据报道，SOX2表达与食管小细胞NEC的发病机制有关。因此，本研究结果表明，SOX2表达在子宫内膜和食管小细胞NEC的发生发展中起重要作用。此外，p16表达和PAX8缺失并不能表明子宫内膜小细胞NEC的起源。
