Cyclin D1 as a diagnostic immunomarker for endometrial stromal sarcoma with YWHAE-FAM22 rearrangement

摘要

Endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) characterized by YWHAE-FAM22 genetic fusion is histologically higher-grade and clinically more aggressive than ESS with JAZF1-SUZ12 or equivalent genetic rearrangements, hence it is clinically important to recognize this subset of ESS. To identify diagnostic immunomarkers for this biologically-defined ESS subset, we compared gene expression profiles from YWHAE-FAM22 ESS, JAZF1-rearranged ESS and uterine leiomyosarcomas. These studies showed consistent upregulation of cyclin D1 in YWHAE-FAM22 ESS compared to JAZF1-SUZ12 ESS. Immunohistochemically, the high-grade round cell component of all 12 YWHAE-FAM22 ESS demonstrated diffuse (≥70%) moderate-to-strong nuclear cyclin D1 staining and this diffuse positivity was not seen in 34 ESS with JAZF1 and equivalent genetic rearrangements or in 21 low-grade ESS with no demonstrable genetic rearrangements. In a series of 243 non-ESS pure uterine mesenchymal and mixed epithelial-mesenchymal tumors, only 2 of 8 undifferentiated endometrial sarcomas with nuclear uniformity and 1 of 80 uterine leiomyosarcomas demonstrate diffuse cyclin D1 immunoreactivity. Both cyclin D1-positive undifferentiated endometrial sarcomas showed diffuse strong CD10 staining, which is consistently absent in the high-grade round cell component of YWHAE-FAM22 ESS. The low-grade spindle cell component of YWHAE-FAM22 ESS showed a spatially heterogeneous cyclin D1 staining pattern that was weaker and less diffuse overall. Our findings indicate that cyclin D1 is a sensitive and specific diagnostic immunomarker for YWHAE-FAM22 ESS. When evaluating high-grade uterine sarcomas, cyclin D1 can be included in the immunohistochemical panel as an indicator of YWHAE-FAM22 ESS.