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HOXB 13 as an immunohistochemical marker of prostatic origin in metastatic tumors
Author(s) -
Barresi Valeria,
Ieni Antonio,
Cardia Roberta,
Licata Luana,
Vitarelli Enrica,
Reggiani Bonetti Luca,
Tuccari Giovanni
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/apm.12483
Subject(s) - medicine , prostate , immunostaining , pca3 , prostate cancer , immunohistochemistry , adenocarcinoma , carcinoma , pathology , cancer , staining , prostate specific antigen , oncology
HOBX 13 is a transcription factor expressed in the normal prostatic glands and overexpressed in prostate cancer. Recent studies suggested that HOXB 13 represents a prostate‐specific marker in the differential diagnosis between prostatic and urothelial carcinoma. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the diagnostic value of HOXB 13 and prostate‐specific antigen ( PSA ) immunoexpression for the detection of prostatic origin in metastatic tumours. PSA and HOXB 13 immunohistochemical expression was assessed in 50 metastatic tumors, including 15 metastases from prostatic adenocarcinoma, 11 from lung adenocarcinoma, 12 from urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma, 11 from colorectal carcinoma, and in 1 from hepatocellular carcinoma. Strong staining for HOXB 13 was observed in >75% of neoplastic cells in 15/15 (100%) metastases from prostate cancer. Weak staining in <25% of cells was found in 2/12 (17%) metastases from urothelial carcinoma. PSA immunostaining was detected only in 8 (53%) cases of prostatic origin. The sensitivity and specificity for metastatic prostate cancer were 100% and 94% for HOXB 13 and 53% and 100% for PSA . Due to its high sensitivity and specificity, HOXB 13 may be included in the pool of prostate‐specific markers in metastases showing absent or weak staining for PSA before excluding prostatic derivation.