Expression of albumin mRNA in primary hepatic neoplasms and acinar cell Carcinoma

摘要

We thank the authors for their interest in our paper evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of in situ hybridization (ISH) for albumin (ViewRNA) for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.1 The letter also refers to our companion paper that evaluates the presence of albumin in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC), a study that identified albumin mRNA transcripts in virtually all IHCCs but not bile duct carcinomas or metastatic adenocarcinomas.2 Notably, the high sensitivity of this RNA ISH assay is related to the design—branch chain—that has the theoretical capability of detecting single RNA transcripts. Although this series did not include classic examples of combined hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma, the ubiquitous presence of albumin in both hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas argues for a common progenitor cell, a hypothesis supported by the relative plasticity of these latter cells.3