Immunohistochemical and molecular profiles of heterogeneous components of metaplastic breast cancer: a squamous cell carcinomatous component was distinct from a spindle cell carcinomatous component

• Published in: Discover. Oncology Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 95 - 12
• Main Authors: Suzuki, Takahiro, Nakanishi, Yoko, Tanino, Tomoyuki, Nishimaki-Watanabe, Haruna, Kobayashi, Hiroko, Ohni, Sumie, Tang, Xiaoyan, Hakamada, Kenichi, Masuda, Shinobu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 02.04.2024; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Antibodies; Breast cancer; Cancer Research; Cell cycle; Connective tissue diseases; Cytokeratin; Growth factors; Heterogeneity; Histology; Hospitals; Internal Medicine; Kinases; Medical records; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metaplastic breast carcinoma; Molecular Medicine; Mutation; Oncology; Phosphatase; Radiotherapy; Spindle cell carcinoma; Squamous cell carcinoma; Surgical Oncology; Tensin homologue; Tumors; United Kingdom > UK; Japan; Germany; Heterogeneity; Squamous cell carcinoma; Tensin homologue; Metaplastic breast carcinoma; Phosphatase; Spindle cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 2730-6011; 2730-6011
• DOI: 10.1007/s12672-024-00950-0

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC), a category of breast cancer, includes different histological types, which are occasionally mixed and heterogeneous. Considering the heterogeneity of cancer cells in a tumour mass has become highly significant, not only from a biological aspect but also for clinical management of recurrence. This study aimed to analyse the immunohistochemical and molecular profiles of each MBC component of a tumour mass. Twenty-five MBC tumours were histologically evaluated, and the most frequent MBC component (c) was squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), followed by spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC). A total of 69 components of MBC and non-MBC in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections were examined for 7 markers by immunohistochemistry. SCC(c) were significantly PTEN negative and CK14 positive, and SpCC(c) were significantly E-cadherin negative and vimentin positive. Multivariate analyses revealed that immunohistochemical profiles of normal/intraductal (IC)(c), no special type (NST)(c), and MBC(c) differed; moreover, SCC(c) and SpCC(c) were distinctly grouped. PTEN gene mutation was detected only in SCC(c) (2/7), but not in SpCC(c). Next-generation sequence analyses for 2 cases with tumours containing SCC(c) demonstrated that PTEN gene mutation increased progressively from IC(c) to NST(c) to SCC(c). In conclusion, the immunohistochemical and molecular profiles of the SCC(c) of MBC are distinct from those of the SpCC(c).