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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2006;30:538-542
© 2006 Elsevier Science NL
a Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, South Korea
b Department of Internal Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, South Korea
c Medical Research Center for Cancer Molecular Therapy, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, South Korea
d Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Gachon Medical School, Incheon, South Korea
e Department of Pathology, Dong-A University College of Medicine 1,3-ga, Dongdaeshin-dong, Seo-gu, Busan 602-715, South Korea
Received 21 March 2006; accepted 26 June 2006.
* Corresponding author. Address: Department of Pathology, Dong-A University College of Medicine 1,3-ga, Dongdaeshin-dong, Seo-gu, Busan 602-715, South Korea. Tel.: +82 51 240 2833; fax: +82 51 243 7396. (Email: msroh{at}dau.ac.kr).
| Abstract |
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3 cm in diameter on the conventional whole tissue (CWT) sections and 2 mm-sized tissue microarray (TMA) cores that were the substitute for preoperative biopsy samples. Staining of more than 5% of tumor cells was recorded as positive immunoreactivity. The distribution of fascin labeling was measured according to the percentage of fascin-positive cells: 525% (low grade) and >25% (high grade). Results: Overall, fascin immunoreactivity was detected in 30 (61.2%) out of the total 49 cases. The tumors with high-grade fascin immunoreacivity tended to more frequently show lymph node metastasis (P
= 0.0007), lymphovascular invasion (P
= 0.0084) and a higher stage (P
= 0.05). There was no significant association with age, gender, tumor size and the histological subtype. The 2 mm-sized TMA cores, which were considered as a substitute for percutaneous needle biopsy sample in this study, showed concordant results with the CWT section (
= 0.836). Conclusions: We suggest that fascin immunoreactivity may identify the subsets of peripheral adenocarcinomas of the lung 3 cm or less in diameter that have a different potential to metastasize to the regional lymph nodes. The evaluation of fascin immunoreactivity on the preoperative biopsy sample could be a novel therapeutic strategy for selecting the most appropriate therapy for small-size pulmonary adenocarcinomas.
Key Words: Lung adenocarcinoma Fascin Immunohistochemistry Lymph node metastasis
| 1. Introduction |
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Fascin is a highly conserved 55 kDa actin-bundling protein that plays an important role in the organization of several types of actin-based structures such as filopodia, spikes, lamelipodial ribs, dendrites and microvilli [2]. Its overexpression results in decreased cell-to-cell adhesion and increased epithelial cell motility [2]. The fascin expression is usually absent or very low in normal epithelial cells, but it is often upregulated in several types of human neoplasms such as ovarian, breast, pancreatic, colon, lung, skin, stomach, esophagus and urinary bladder tumors [311]. A high level of fascin in these neoplastic cells is associated with progressive high-grade tumors and tumors with great metastatic potential [311].
Herein we performed immunohistochemical detection of fascin protein in peripheral adenocarcinoma tissue samples of the lung that were 3 cm or less in diameter by using conventional whole tissue (CWT) sections to define the relationship of the fascin expression with the progression of small-sized lung adenocarcinoma. Moreover, we performed immunohistochemical staining for fascin with using the corresponding high density tissue microarray (TMA) core, which is considered as the most suitable and reliable substitute for a preoperative biopsy sample, to define whether the immunohistochemical detection of fascin could provide useful information as a novel preoperative therapeutic option.
| 2. Materials and methods |
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2.2 Construction of TMA
To define whether the immunohistochemical detection of fascin could provide useful information as a novel preoperative therapeutic option, a TMA was constructed, which is considered as the most suitable and reliable substitute for the preoperative biopsy sample. After making one slide from each specimen for examining the fascin expression staining on the CWT section, the TMA was designed as follows. After reviewing all of the HE-stained slides from the cases, one representative slide was selected from each case, and one area of the tumor was circled on the slide. Creation on the blocks was done with a precision instrument (Beecher Instruments, Silver Spring, MD, USA) that uses two separate core needles for punching the donor and recipient blocks, and a micrometer precise coordinate system for assembling the microsamples on a block. The selected area in the donor block was cored with a 2 mm diameter needle, and the tissue cores from each tumor were then mounted in linear arrays in the recipient paraffin TMA block. The final tissue microarray consisted of one block that contained 49 spots, with the sample spaced 2 mm apart.
2.3 Immumohistochemistry for fascin
The CWT and TMA section slides were subjected to immunohistochemical staining as follows. The immunohistochemical study for fascin was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, 4 µm-thick tissue sections, using the avidinbiotinperoxidase complex method. The primary antibody was a mouse monoclonal antibody directed against fascin (DakoCytomation, Carpinteria, CA, USA) used at 1:50 dilution. Deparaffinization of all sections was performed through a series of xylene baths, and rehydration was performed with a series of graded alcohol solutions. To enhance the immunoreactivity, microwave antigen retrieval was performed at 750 W for 30 min in citrate buffer (pH 6.0). After blocking the endogenous peroxidase activity with 5% hydrogen peroxidase for 10 min, incubation with the primary antibody was performed for 1 h at room temperature. An EnvisionTMChemTM Detection Kit (DakoCytomation) was used for the secondary antibody at room temperature for 30 min. After washing the tissue samples in Tris buffered saline for 10 min, 3,3'-diaminobenzidine was used as a chromogen, and then Mayer's hematoxylin counterstain was applied.
2.4 Immunohistochemical assessment
The fascin immunoreactivity in each tumor was verified by the labeling of endothelial cells of the microvessels in every specimen. Fascin-positive samples were defined as those showing a cytoplasmic staining pattern of the lesional tissue. Staining more than 5% of tumor cells was recorded as positive immunoreactivity. The distribution of fascin labeling was measured according to the percentage of fascin-positive cells: 525% was considered low grade and >25% was considered high grade. The overall result was recorded for the CWT section. The same observer (M.S. Roh), who was kept blinded on what particular tissue section she was working on, evaluated the TMA cores. Each of the CWT and TMA sections was scored in the manner described above.
2.5 Statistical analysis
The association between the clinicopathological characteristics and the fascin grade were analyzed using contingency tables. Statistical significance was evaluated with
2 tests. The statistical difference was considered significant for a P value was less than 0.05. Concordance between the CWT and TMA sections was evaluated using
statistics. A positive (or negative) score of a TMA core and a positive (or negative) score of a CWT section were considered a match, respectively.
value in excess of 0.7 was considered as strong associations between the methods. The data were analyzed with the Statistical Package, SPSS 11.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
| 3. Results |
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2 cm, while 38 cases involved tumors >2 cm. Histologically, the tumors were all adenocarcinomas that showed a mixture of the various histological subtypes, including the acinar, papillary, solid and bronchioloalveolar. When all the cases were subdivided into the three types, there were 1 in the BAC, 19 in the mixed and 29 in the invasive groups. There were 33 negative cases and 16 positive cases of lymph node metastases. There were 29 negative cases and 20 positive cases of lymphovascular invasion. According to the AJCC staging system, 33 patients were stage IA, 6 were stage IIA and 10 were stage IIIA.
3.2 Immunohistochemical findings of fascin
Fascin immunoreactivity appeared as a fine, granular to diffuse cytoplasmic staining in both the normal and tumor cells.
In the normal lung, the non-neoplastic bronchial and alveolar epithelial cells were consistently non-reactive for fascin. Likewise, the surface ciliated and mucous cells of the bronchial epithelium and the seromucinous glands of the bronchial wall did not show fascin immunostaining. However, positive staining was observed in the endothelial cells of bronchial and alveolar walls, lymphocytes and stromal cells in the interstitium (Fig. 1A).
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3.3 Correlation between fascin immunoreactivity on the CWT sections and the clinicopathological characteristics
The various clinicopathological characteristics of the patients and their tumors were compared according to the fascin immunoreactivity (Table 1
). The analysis revealed that the fascin expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis, lymphovascular invasion and the pathologic stage (P
= 0.05), according to the grade of fascin immunoreactivity. The tumors with high-grade fascin immunoreacivity tended to more frequently show lymph node metastasis (P
= 0.0007), lymphovascular invasion (P
= 0.0084) and a higher stage (P
= 0.05). There was no significant association with age, gender, tumor size and the histological subtype.
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| 4. Discussion |
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Tumor invasion and metastasis are the results of several sequential steps and they are caused, in part, by the motile properties of tumor cells that can overcome cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix adhesion and so invade the surrounding tissue [14,15]. Obviously, it is impossible to evaluate this feature of malignant tumors in fixed sections of tissues. Recent studies have shown that fascin, an important regulatory protein of cellular motility, is associated with the progression and metastasis of several common tumors [311]. Pelosi et al. [7] have reported that they observed fascin expression in 78% of 96 adenocarcinomas of stage I non-small cell lung cancer and fascin was an independent prognostic factor; a diffusely strong distribution of fascin was associated with a higher grade and contralateral thoracic or distant metastases. Hashimoto et al. [10] have reported that they observed fascin down-regulation and decreased motility and invasiveness in an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell line by using the vector-based siRNA. Although there still remains the question of which pathway contributes to the overexpression of fascin protein in lung adenocarcinoma, down-regulation of tumor-specific fascin may become a novel therapeutic strategy.
In the present investigation, we found significant correlations between lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis and the fascin expression grade; this suggests a role for this molecule in the process of metastasis for pulmonary adenocarcinoma. In another report, fascin immunoreactivity was closely correlated with the occurrence of lymph node metastases and the number of involved lymph nodes in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors [16]. In gastric carcinoma, the fascin expression was associated with lymph node metastasis and a peculiar prevalence of the fascin expression in the metastatic tumors of lymph nodes was observed [9]. However, the precise role of the fascin expression in the progression of primary lung adenocarcinoma to lymph node metastasis is still unclear. Pelosi et al. [7] have reported that the correlation between fascin upregulation and a tumor's metastatic potential may be, at least in part, justified by the peculiar prevalence of fascin expression in most neoplastic emboli inside the blood vessels, which is independent of the tumor type, and also in most endothelial cells of the pulmonary microvessels, but not of the major vessels. The metastasis mechanism could involve either direct vascular permeation by the actively migrating tumor cells that have strong fascin expression or the development of newly formed microvessels that are highlighted by strong fascin immunoreactivity. Further work is needed to test the possibility of using fascin as a more suitable marker of metastatic potential, and this may predict vascular permeation and lymphatic and/or distant metastases of small-size peripheral adenocarcinomas of the lung.
The recent advances in detecting small peripheral lung adenocarcinomas have displayed the need to assess the value of performing limited types of surgical intervention for this disease [17]. However, even at the same stage and with similar pathologic characteristics, the 3 cm or smaller lung adenocarcinomas that are surgically treated can have a variable prognosis depend on the biologic characteristics of the tumor [1]. Using tumor size alone, based on non-invasive staging, seems to be inaccurate for choosing the most appropriate treatment strategy for parenchymal lesions. It is clear that the presence of nodal metastasis is of paramount prognostic importance. With this in mind, researchers are looking for ways to accurately estimate the extent of malignancy for each small tumor. If the morphological and molecular prognostic markers that define a biologically distinct subgroup could be detected on a preoperative biopsy sample, then this would be of value from a therapeutic perspective. However, the biopsies of peripheral pulmonary adenocarcinomas that are obtained by percutaneous routes are often small. The question then arises whether the biopsy sample is representative of the entire lesion. As shown in this study, the 2 mm-sized TMA cores, which had a size that was similar to that of the lesion in the percutaneous needle biopsy sample, were excellent representatives of the CWT sections, so there seems no reason why there should be a difference between the resection and biopsy sample as long as the latter are sampled in a non-biased manner. Since fascin is not expressed in normal lung epithelium, the fascin expression can be used to support the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, particularly in small tissue samples. Furthermore, because fascin usually has opposite intertumor and intratumor staining properties (
25% vs >25% of immunoreactivity), the assessment of fascin in the biopsy specimen might assist in distinguishing between potentially aggressive disease and potentially non-aggressive disease when screening small lung adenocarcinomas.
In conclusion, this study indicates that fascin immunoreactivity may identify the subsets of peripheral adenocarcinomas of the lung 3 cm or less in diameter that have different potential to metastasize to regional lymph nodes. The evaluation of fascin immunoreactivity on preoperative biopsy samples could be a novel therapeutic strategy for selecting the most appropriate therapy for treating pulmonary adenocarcinomas.
| Acknowledgments |
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| References |
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