Genomic and immunohistochemical analysis in human adrenal cortical neoplasia reveal beta-catenin mutations as potential prognostic biomarker

Discoveries
Alexandra E KovachPeter M Sadow

Abstract

Evaluation for malignancy of the adrenal cortex, adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC), is a challenge in surgical pathology due to its relative rarity and histologic overlap with its benign counterpart, adrenocortical adenoma (ACA). We characterized a cohort of human ACC and ACA, including a molecular screen, with a goal of identifying potential diagnostic adjuncts. Thirty-six cases of ACC underwent histologic and clinical review. In the 31 ACC cases with available material and a cohort of 10 ACA cases, a multiplex nucleotide amplification molecular screen from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue was peformed. ACCs demonstrated a wide variety of clinical and histologic characteristics with overall poor but unpredictable survival for subjects with ACC. By mutational screen, 12/31 (38.7%) carcinomas harbored CTNNB1 mutations, 1 with an additional TP53 mutation; 1 case each had isolated APC and TP53 mutations; 16 were wild-type for all tested loci; and 1 case demonstrated repeated assay failures. Two of the 10 ACA (20%) demonstrated CTNNB1 mutations by mutational screen, with no additional mutations. Immunohistochemistry for beta-catenin was performed and compared with the results of the molecular screen. Strong nuclear beta-cate...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cancer Genomics (Keystone)

Cancer genomics approaches employ high-throughput technologies to identify the complete catalog of somatic alterations that characterize the genome, transcriptome and epigenome of cohorts of tumor samples. Discover the latest research using such technologies in this feed.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli

Adenomatous polyposis coli is a protein encoded by the APC gene and acts as a tumor suppressor. Discover the latest research on adenomatous polyposis coli here.

Adrenocortical Carcinoma

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy of the adrenal cortex, associated with a generally dismal prognosis owing to its aggressive behavior. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to this disease.