High Specificity of BCL11B and GLG1 for EWSR1-FLI1 and EWSR1-ERG Positive Ewing Sarcoma

Publication

High Specificity of BCL11B and GLG1 for EWSR1-FLI1 and EWSR1-ERG Positive Ewing Sarcoma

Journal Paper/Review - Mar 10, 2020

Orth Martin F, Li Jing, Marchetto Aruna, Henssen Anton G, Özen Özlem, Sugita Shintaro, Hasegawa Tadashi, Kanaseki Takayuki, Bertram Stefanie, Dirksen Uta, Hartmann Wolfgang, Kirchner Thomas, Ohmura Shunya, Gerke Julia S, Cidre-Aranaz Florencia, Hölting Tilman L B, Dallmayer Marlene, Wehweck Fabienne S, Paul Tanja, Musa Julian, Baldauf Michaela, Surdez Didier, Delattre Olivier, Knott Maximilian M L, Romero-Pérez Laura, Kasan Merve, Grünewald Thomas G P

Citation

Orth M, Li J, Marchetto A, Henssen A, Özen Ö, Sugita S, Hasegawa T, Kanaseki T, Bertram S, Dirksen U, Hartmann W, Kirchner T, Ohmura S, Gerke J, Cidre-Aranaz F, Hölting T, Dallmayer M, Wehweck F, Paul T, Musa J, Baldauf M, Surdez D, Delattre O, Knott M, Romero-Pérez L, Kasan M, Grünewald T. High Specificity of BCL11B and GLG1 for EWSR1-FLI1 and EWSR1-ERG Positive Ewing Sarcoma. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12

Type

Journal Paper/Review (English)

Journal

Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12

Publication Date

Mar 10, 2020

Issn Print

2072-6694

Brief description/objective

Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is an aggressive cancer displaying an undifferentiated small-round-cell histomorphology that can be easily confused with a broad spectrum of differential diagnoses. Using comparative transcriptomics and immunohistochemistry (IHC), we previously identified BCL11B and GLG1 as potential specific auxiliary IHC markers for -positive EwS. Herein, we aimed at validating the specificity of both markers in a far larger and independent cohort of EwS (including -positive cases) and differential diagnoses. Furthermore, we evaluated their intra-tumoral expression heterogeneity. Thus, we stained tissue microarrays from 133 molecularly confirmed EwS cases and 320 samples from morphological mimics, as well as a series of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models for BCL11B, GLG1, and CD99, and systematically assessed the immunoreactivity and optimal cut-offs for each marker. These analyses demonstrated that high BCL11B and/or GLG1 immunoreactivity in CD99-positive cases had a specificity of 97.5% and an accuracy of 87.4% for diagnosing EwS solely by IHC, and that the markers were expressed by -positive EwS. Only little intra-tumoral heterogeneity in immunoreactivity was observed for differential diagnoses. These results indicate that BCL11B and GLG1 may help as specific auxiliary IHC markers in diagnosing EwS in conjunction with CD99, especially if confirmatory molecular diagnostics are not available.