Significance of EpCAM and TROP2 expression in non-small cell lung cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The tumor-associated calcium signal transducer (<it>TACSTD</it>) genes, originally designated epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and TROP2, represent true oncogenes. Little is known about EpCAM and TROP2 gene expression in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). This study evaluated EpCAM and TROP2 protein expression and clinicopathologic significance in cases of NSCLC.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tissue microarray blocks acquired from 164 cases of NSCLC, including 100 cases of adenocarcinoma (AdC) and 64 of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), were examined by immunohistochemical staining for EpCAM, and TROP2. The results were correlated with clinicopathologic data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EpCAM and TROP2 were significantly overexpressed in SCC than in AdC (<it>P </it>< 0.01). In AdC, EpCAM overexpression was closely related to sex, histologic grade, pathologic T stage, pathologic N stage, and TNM stage, and TROP2 overexpression was only related to histologic grade (<it>P </it>< 0.05, respectively). In SCC, correlations were evident between EpCAM overexpression and TNM stage (<it>P </it>= 0.01), and between TROP2 overexpression and pathologic T stage (<it>P </it>= 0.02). EpCAM overexpression showed no significance with overall survival in AdC and SCC patients. However, TROP2 overexpression in AdC had a positive influence on overall survival (<it>P </it>= 0.02) and disease-free survival (<it>P </it>= 0.03). In particular, AdC patients with stage II or III showed better overall survival (<it>P </it>= 0.05) and disease-free survival (<it>P </it>= 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>While EpCAM and TROP2 show weak and non-complete membranous staining in normal bronchial epithelium and pneumocyte, their complete membranous expression in carcinoma suggests their role in carcinogenesis. EpCAM and TROP2 were more frequently overexpressed in SCC. EpCAM overexpression had no prognostic value in this study, but TROP2 overexpression showed better survival in AdC patients and might be a better prognostic marker in advanced stage AdC.</p

A Case of Primary Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma of the Maxillary Sinus Presenting as Epiphora

Primary sinusoidal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is a very rare disease. The main symptoms of sinusoidal NHL are rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, and post-nasal drip. Symptoms such as eye protrusion, diplopia, trismus, and periorbital pain can also occur. Epiphora is a very rare symptom of sinusoidal NHL, which can lead to a misdiagnosis of dacryocystitis or dacryostenosis. The authors report the case of a 46-year-old female patient who visited hospital for symptoms of epiphora, which did not improve even after 3 months of eye treatment, leading to a final diagnosis of maxillary NHL

A Case of Nasal NK T-Cell Lymphoma Presenting With Persistent Epiphora

Nasal type natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NNKTL) is a rare and aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma originating from a natural killer cell or γδ T cell infected by the Epstein-Barr virus. It usually invades the aerodigestive tract and can rapidly destroy the paranasal sinus, hard palate, and central nervous system. NNKTL is often mistaken for benign conditions such as chronic hypertrophic rhinosinusitis or mucosal inflammatory change, as endoscopic findings of NNKTL presenting nasal mucosal hypertrophy are similar to endoscopic findings for these abovementioned benign conditions. Here, the authors report the diagnosis and examination of NNKTL in a 58-year-old male patient who visited our clinic for nasal cavity discomfort after he underwent a dacryocystorhinostomy to treat dacryocystitis

Prognostic Utility of Histological Growth Patterns of Colorectal Lung Oligometastasis

Background Patients with resectable colorectal lung oligometastasis (CLOM) demonstrate a heterogeneous oncological outcome. However, the parameters for predicting tumor aggressiveness have not yet been fully investigated in CLOM. This study was performed to determine the prognostic value of histological growth patterns in patients who underwent surgery for CLOM. Methods The study included 92 patients who were diagnosed with CLOM among the first resection cases. CLOMs grow according to three histological patterns: aerogenous, pushing, and desmoplastic patterns. The growth patterns were evaluated on archival hematoxylin and eosin–stained tissue sections. Results The aerogenous pattern was found in 29.4% (n=27) of patients, the pushing pattern in 34.7% (n=32), the desmoplastic pattern in 6.5% (n=6), and a mix of two growth patterns in 29.4% (n=27). The size of the aerogenous pattern was significantly smaller than that of metastases with other patterns (p=.033). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients showing an aerogenous pattern appeared to have a poorer prognosis, which was calculated from the time of diagnosis of the CLOM (p=.044). The 5-year survival rate from the diagnosis of colorectal cancer tended to be lower in patients with an aerogenous pattern than in those who had a non-aerogenous pattern; however, the difference was marginally significant (p=.051). In the multivariate Cox analysis, the aerogenous pattern appeared as an independent predictor of poor overall survival (hazard ratio, 3.122; 95% confidence interval, 1.196 to 8.145; p=.020). Conclusions These results suggest that the growth patterns may play a part as a histology-based prognostic parameter for patients with CLOM