Expression of annexin I in different histological types of carcinomas / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of annexin I in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and carcinomas of other histological types in order to analyze the correlation between the expression of annexin I and carcinogenesis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>First, a set of tissue microarray was established, which consisted of SCC from the esophagus (208 cases), lung, larynx, cervix, and external genital organs; adenocarcinomas from the lung, stomach, colon and rectum, liver, pancreas, breast, thyroid and kidney with 30 cases in each group, meanwhile, the corresponding normal tissue was also obtained for control. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of annexin I in different types of carcinomas and the corresponding normal controls from different organs. The correlation between the expression of annexin I and the clinicopathological feature was analyzed and compared, which included age, gender, differentiation grade and lymph node metastasis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>It was found that the expression of annexin I was decreased in esophageal SCC, when compared with normal esophageal squamous epithelia (P < 0.001), the similarity was also found in SCC of the lung, larynx and cervix. However, though negative in normal epidermis, annexin I expression was detected in some cases with SCC from external genital organs. Annexin I was found to be overexpressed in adenocarcinomas of the lung, stomach, colon and rectum, liver, pancreas, breast, thyroid and kidney, particularly very strong expression of annexin I was seen in lung adenocarcinoma, uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma and ovarian serous adenocarcinoma. Interestingly, it was found to be positive in all thyroid papillary carcinomas, but negative in all normal thyroid glands. However, annexin I expression was found to be negative in all hepatocellular carcinoma and normal hepatocytes; and it was only detected in myoepithelium of normal breast tissue, but not in ductal luminal cells, and rarely in infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma. In SCC, annexin I expression was stronger in well differentiated ones than that in the poorly differentiated ones. However, contrasting with SCC, in the adenocarcinomas from different organs, annexin I expression was much stronger in poorly differentiated ones than that in the well differentiate ones, especially in the adenocarcinomas from stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, ovarian and kidney.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Annexin I expression is quite different among different types of carcinomas, and is correlated with histopathological type and differentiation grade. Further study is needed to investigate its role in the carcinogenesis.</p>

Expression and diagnostic significance of OCT4, CD117 and CD30 in germ cell tumors / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the immunohistochemical expression of OCT4, CD117 and CD30 in germ cell tumors and to assess their diagnostic value.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical study for OCT4 was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of 63 cases of germ cell tumors, including seminoma (21), dysgerminoma (7), germinoma (8), embryonal carcinoma (8), yolk sac tumor (6), mature teratoma (10) and immature teratoma (3), as well as 25 cases of non-germ cell tumors, including granulosa cell tumor (8), clear cell adenocarcinoma (4), Leydig's cell tumor (5), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (4) and malignant melanoma (4). Besides, the expression of CD117 and CD30 in all germ cell tumors was studied.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All cases of seminoma and germinoma, 6/7 cases of dysgerminoma and 7/8 cases of embryonal carcinoma were positive for OCT4, with strong nuclear staining. All other germ cell tumors and non-germ cell tumors were negative for OCT4, except for 1 case of yolk sac tumor and 1 case of clear cell adenocarcinoma which showed weak staining. Positive membranous expression of CD117 was demonstrated in 19/21(90.5%) seminoma, 5/7 dysgerminoma and 7/8 germinoma. Focal weak membranous staining was also noted in 1 case of yolk sac tumor. The melanocytes in teratoma were also positive for CD117. All cases of embryonal carcinoma were negative. On the other hand, positive membranous expression of CD30 were demonstrated in 6/8 embryonal carcinoma. One case of germinoma and 1 case of yolk sac tumor showed weak cytoplasmic positivity. All cases of seminoma and dysgerminoma, 7/8 germinoma and all cases of teratoma were negative for CD30.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>OCT4 is a sensitive and relatively specific marker for diagnosing seminoma, dysgerminoma, germinoma and embryonal carcinoma. CD117 and CD30 immunostains, when used in combination, represent valuable tools for distinguishing embryonal carcinoma and seminoma, dysgerminoma, germinoma.</p>