| Autor: |
Gerber TS; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Goeppert B; Institute of Pathology and Neuropathology, RKH Klinikum Ludwigsburg, 71640 Ludwigsburg, Germany., Hausen A; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Witzel HR; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Bartsch F; Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Schindeldecker M; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.; Tissue Biobank, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Gröger LK; Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Ridder DA; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Cahyadi O; Institute of Pathology, University of Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany., Esposito I; Institute of Pathology, University Clinic Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany., Gaida MM; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Schirmacher P; Institute of Pathology and Neuropathology, RKH Klinikum Ludwigsburg, 71640 Ludwigsburg, Germany., Galle PR; Department of Medicine I, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Lang H; Department of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Roth W; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany., Straub BK; Institute of Pathology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany. |
| Abstrakt: |
Carcinomas of the pancreatobiliary system confer an especially unfavorable prognosis. The differential diagnosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) and its subtypes versus liver metastasis of ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas (PDAC) is clinically important to allow the best possible therapy. We could previously show that E-cadherin and N-cadherin, transmembrane glycoproteins of adherens junctions, are characteristic features of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. We therefore analyzed E-cadherin and N-cadherin in the embryonally related epithelia of the bile duct and pancreas, as well as in 312 iCCAs, 513 carcinomas of the extrahepatic bile ducts, 228 gallbladder carcinomas, 131 PDACs, and precursor lesions, with immunohistochemistry combined with image analysis, fluorescence microscopy, and immunoblots. In the physiological liver, N-cadherin colocalizes with E-cadherin in small intrahepatic bile ducts, whereas larger bile ducts and pancreatic ducts are positive for E-cadherin but contain decreasing amounts of N-cadherin. N-cadherin was highly expressed in most iCCAs, whereas in PDACs, N-cadherin was negative or only faintly expressed. E- and N-cadherin expression in tumors of the pancreaticobiliary tract recapitulate their expression in their normal tissue counterparts. N-cadherin is a helpful marker for the differential diagnosis between iCCA and PDAC, with a specificity of 96% and a sensitivity of 67% for small duct iCCAs and 50% for large duct iCCAs. |
