Potential immmunohistochemical markers to characterize epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pleomorphic adenoma

• Published in: Journal of experimental therapeutics & oncology Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 1
• Main Authors: Devi, Anju, Yadav, Achla Bharti, Kamboj, Mala, Narwal, Anjali, Kumar, Vinay, Singh, Virender
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Actins; Adenoma - diagnosis; Adenoma, Pleomorphic - diagnosis; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Salivary Gland Neoplasms - diagnosis; Salivary Glands; pleomorphic adenoma; heterogeneity; transition; histogenesis; immunohistochemical
• ISSN: 1359-4117

The histogenesis process of pleomorphic adenoma (PA) of salivary gland continues to remain a controversial subject. In this neoplasm, transition occurs from an epithelial or myoepithelial cell to a stromal element and is called an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) resulting in heterogeneity. The present research was aimed to study the morphological characteristics of varied components and epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in PA using histopathological and immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. For this purpose 15 PAs cases were selected from the archives and from each case of PA and 5 cases of normal salivary gland, five additional sections were cut from each for immunohistochemical analysis using E- cadherin, vimentin and a-actin. The numbers of immunoreactive cells were semi- quantitatively measured and also determined the intensity of the immunostaining reaction. Immunohistochemically, as the cells transitioned from the lumial cells to descrete/detached cells of ductal structures, the percentage of positive cells tends to decrease for E- cadherin and increases for vimentin and actin. Additionally, neoplastic cells towards the periphery of ducal-cystic structures or completely detached cells in the stroma showed intense to moderate positivity for vimentin and alpha smooth muscle actin (a-SMA). Chondroid/ hyalinized or myxoid stroma showed variable staining with these markers. Our study provides the evidence that epithelial-mesenchymal transition process represent the basic principle of the tisuse heterogeneity in pleomorphic adenomas.