Abstract
Ewing sarcoma family tumors (EFTs) of the head and neck are rare and may be difficult to diagnose, as they display significant histologic overlap with other more common undifferentiated small blue round cell malignancies. Occasionally, EFTs may exhibit overt epithelial differentiation in the form of diffuse cytokeratin immunoexpression or squamous pearls, resembling the so-called adamantinoma-like EFTs and being challenging to distinguish from bona fide carcinomas. Furthermore, the presence of EWSR1 gene rearrangement correlated with strong keratin expression may suggest a myoepithelial carcinoma. Herein, we analyze a series of 7 adamantinoma-like EFTs of the head and neck, most of them being initially misdiagnosed as carcinomas because of their anatomic location and strong cytokeratin immunoexpression, and subsequently reclassified as EFT by molecular techniques. The tumors arose in the sinonasal tract (n=2), parotid gland (n=2), thyroid gland (n=2), and orbit (n=1), in patients ranging in age from 7 to 56 years (mean, 31 y). Microscopically, they departed from the typical EFT morphology by growing as nests with peripheral nuclear palisading and prominent interlobular fibrosis, imparting a distinctly basaloid appearance. Moreover, 2 cases exhibited overt keratinization in the form of squamous pearls, and 1 sinonasal tumor demonstrated areas of intraepithelial growth. All cases were positive for CD99, pancytokeratin, and p40. A subset of cases showed synaptophysin, S100 protein, and/or p16 reactivity, further confounding the diagnosis. Fluorescence in situ hybridization assays showed EWSR1 and FLI1 rearrangements in all cases. Our results reinforce that a subset of head and neck EFTs may show strong cytokeratin expression or focal keratinization, and are therefore histologically indistinguishable from more common true epithelial neoplasms. Thus, CD99 should be included in the immunopanel of a round cell malignancy regardless of strong cytokeratin expression or anatomic location, and a strong and diffuse CD99 positivity should prompt molecular testing for the presence of EWSR1 gene rearrangements.
摘要
头颈部的尤文肉瘤肿瘤家族(EFTs)罕见,它们与其它更常见的未分化小圆形细胞恶性肿瘤组织学上有明显的交叉重叠,使诊断困难。偶尔,EFTs可以呈明显的上皮分化,细胞角蛋白弥漫性阳性表达或有角化珠形成,表现为所谓的造釉细胞瘤样EFTs,与真正的癌区别困难。而且,与角蛋白强阳性表达相关联的EWSR1基因重排的存在,可能提示为肌上皮癌。
本文中,我们分析了7例头颈部造釉细胞瘤样EFTs,因解剖部位和细胞角蛋白强阳性表达,其中的大多数最初被误诊为癌,后来通过分子检测技术重新诊断为EFTs。肿瘤位于鼻窦(2例)、腮腺(2例)、甲状腺(2例)及眼眶(1例),病人年龄7—56岁(平均 31岁)。
显微镜下,肿瘤无典型的EFTs形态学表现,而是呈巢状生长,周围的细胞核栅栏状排列,小叶间明显纤维化,呈现明显的基底细胞样外观。此外,有2例表现为明显的角化,有角化珠形成,1例鼻窦肿瘤显示部分区域上皮内生长。所有的病例CD99、CKpan和p40阳性。一部分病例显示syn、S-100蛋白和/或p16也有阳性表达,更加造成诊断上的困惑。FISH检测显示所有的病例都有 EWSR1 和FLI1重排。
我们的研究结果说明一部分头颈部EFTs可以显示细胞角蛋白强阳性表达或局灶性角化,因此,组织学上不能与更常见的真正上皮性肿瘤区分开来。所以,小圆形恶性肿瘤的免疫组化检测中,要包括CD99,不管细胞角蛋白是否强阳性表达或解剖部位如何,CD99弥漫强阳性表达提示应进行 EWSR1基因重排的分子检测。
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