Thyroid follicular adenomas and carcinomas: molecular profiling provides evidence for a continuous evolution.

Non-autonomous thyroid nodules are common in the general population with a proportion found to be cancerous. A current challenge in the field is to be able to distinguish benign adenoma (FA) from preoperatively malignant thyroid follicular carcinoma (FTC), which are very similar both histologically and genetically. One controversial issue, which is currently not understood, is whether both tumor types represent different molecular entities or rather a biological continuum. To gain a better insight into FA and FTC tumorigenesis, we defined their molecular profiles by mRNA and miRNA microarray. Expression data were analyzed, validated by qRT-PCR and compared with previously published data sets. The majority of deregulated mRNAs were common between FA and FTC and were downregulated, however FTC showed additional deregulated mRNA. Both types of tumors share deregulated pathways, molecular functions and biological processes. The additional deregulations in FTC include the lipid transport process that may be involved in tumor progression. The strongest candidate genes which may be able to discriminate follicular adenomas and carcinomas, CRABP1, FABP4 and HMGA2, were validated in independent samples by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. However, they were not able to adequately classify FA or FTC, supporting the notion of continuous evolving tumors, whereby FA and FTC appear to show quantitative rather than qualitative changes. Conversely, miRNA expression profiles showed few dysregulations in FTC, and even fewer in FA, suggesting that miRNA play a minor, if any, role in tumor progression.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

An international Ki67 reproducibility study in adrenal cortical Carcinoma

Despite the established role of Ki67 labeling index in prognostic stratification of adrenocortical carcinomas and its recent integration into treatment flow charts, the reproducibility of the assessment method has not been determined. The aim of this study was to investigate interobserver variability among endocrine pathologists using a web-based virtual microscopy approach. Ki67-stained slides of 76 adrenocortical carcinomas were analyzed independently by 14 observers, each according to their method of preference including eyeballing, formal manual counting, and digital image analysis. The interobserver variation was statistically significant (

DNA methylation is an independent prognostic marker of survival in adrenocortical cancer

Context: Adrenocortical cancer (ACC) is an aggressive tumor with a heterogeneous outcome. Prognostic stratification is difficult even based on tumor stage and Ki67. Recently integrated genomics studies have demonstrated that CpG islands hypermethylation is correlated with poor survival. Objective: The goal of this study was to confirm the prognostic value of CpG islands methylation on an independent cohort. Design: Methylation was measured by methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA). Setting: MS-MLPA was performed in a training cohort of 50 patients with ACC to identify the best set of probes correlating with disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). These outcomes were validated in an independent cohort from 21 ENSAT centers. Patients: The validation cohort included 203 patients (64% women, median age 50 years, 80% localized tumors). Main Outcome Measures: DFS and OS. Results: In the training cohort, mean methylation of 4 genes (PAX5, GSTP1, PYCARD, PAX6) was the strongest methylation marker. In the validation cohort, methylation was a significant prognostic factor of DFS (P , 0.0001) and OS (P , 0.0001). Methylation, Ki67, and ENSAT stage were combined inmultivariatemodels. For DFS,methylation (P = 0.0005) and stage (P,0.0001) but not Ki67 (P = 0.19) remained highly significant. For OS, methylation (P = 0.0006), stage (P , 0.0001), and Ki67 (P = 0.024) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Tumor DNA methylation emerges as an independent prognostic factor in ACC. MSMLPA is readily compatible with clinical routine and should enhance our ability for prognostication and precision medicine