Supplementary Material for: Characterisation of Prognosis and Invasion of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Podoplanin and E-Cadherin Expression

<p><b><i>Background:</i></b> Around 5% of all cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) metastasise. Metastases usually locate in regional skin and lymph nodes, suggesting collective cancer invasion. The cellular level of tumour invasion and prognostic parameters remain to be characterised. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We performed immunohistochemical analyses of E-cadherin (marker for collective cancer invasion) and podoplanin (marker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition [EMT], single-cell invasion) expression in 102 samples of metastatic and non-metastatic cSCC and 18 corresponding skin and lymph node metastases to characterise the invasion of cSCC. Immunohistochemical results were retrospectively correlated with clinical data. <b><i>Results:</i></b> E-cadherin was highly expressed in metastatic and non-metastatic cSCC and skin metastases. This suggests collective cancer invasion. However, E-cadherin was downregulated in poorly differentiated cSCC and lymph node metastases, suggesting partial EMT. Podoplanin was significantly upregulated in metastatic (<i>p</i> = 0.002) and poorly differentiated (<i>p</i> = 0.003) cSCC. Overexpression of podoplanin represented a statistically independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (<i>p</i> = 0.014). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Collective cancer invasion is likely in cSCC. In lymph node metastases and poorly differentiated cSCC, partial EMT is possible. Podoplanin is an independent prognostic parameter for metastasis.</p

Pb 4f Photoelectron Spectroscopy on Mass-Selected Anionic Lead Clusters at FLASH

4f core level photoelectron spectroscopy has been performed on negatively charged lead clusters, in the size range of 10–90 atoms. We deploy4.7 nm radiation from the free-electron laser FLASH, yielding sufficiently high photon flux to investigate mass-selected systems in a beam. A new photoelectron detection system based on a hemispherical spectrometer and a time-resolving delayline detector makes it possible to assign electron signals to each micropulse of FLASH. The resulting 4f binding energies show good agreement with the metallic sphere model, giving evidence for a fast screening of the 4f core holes. By comparing the present work with previous 5d and valence region data, the paper presents a comprehensive overview of the energetics of lead clusters, from atoms to bulk. Special care is taken to discuss the differences of the valenceandcore-level anion cluster photoionizations. Whereas in the valence case the escaping photoelectron interacts with a neutral system near its ground state, core-level ionization leads to transiently highly excited neutral clusters. Thus, the photoelectron signal might carry information on the relaxation dynamics