TY - JOUR
T1 - Loss of BAP1 in Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas Seems Unrelated to Genetic Mutations
AU - Maffeis, Valeria
AU - Cappellesso, Rocco
AU - Nicolè, Lorenzo
AU - Guzzardo, Vincenza
AU - Menin, Chiara
AU - Elefanti, Lisa
AU - Schiavi, Francesca
AU - Guido, Maria
AU - Fassina, Ambrogio
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - Breast cancer-associated protein 1 (BAP1) gene is a broad-spectrum tumor suppressor. Indeed, its loss of expression, due to biallelic inactivating mutations or deletions, has been described in several types of tumors including melanoma, malignant mesothelioma, renal cell carcinoma, and others. There are so far only two reports of BAP1-mutated paraganglioma, suggesting the possible involvement of this gene in paraganglioma (PGL) and pheochromocytoma (PCC) pathogenesis. We assessed BAP1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in a cohort of 56 PCC/PGL patients (and corresponding metastases, when available). Confirmatory Sanger sequencing (exons 1-17) of BAP1 has been performed in those samples which resulted negative by IHC. BAP1 nuclear expression was lost in 2/22 (9.1%) PGLs and in 12/34 (35.3%) PCCs, five of which harboring a germline mutation predisposing the development of such tumors (MENIN, MAX, SDHB, SDHD, and RET gene). Confirmatory Sanger sequencing revealed the wild-type BAP1 status of all the analyzed samples. No heterogeneity between primary and metastatic tissue was observed. This study documents that the loss of BAP1 nuclear expression is quite a frequent finding in PCC/PGL, suggesting a possible role of BAP1 in the pathogenesis of these tumors. Gene mutations do not seem to be involved in this loss of expression, at least in most cases. Other genetic and epigenetic mechanisms need to be further investigated.
AB - Breast cancer-associated protein 1 (BAP1) gene is a broad-spectrum tumor suppressor. Indeed, its loss of expression, due to biallelic inactivating mutations or deletions, has been described in several types of tumors including melanoma, malignant mesothelioma, renal cell carcinoma, and others. There are so far only two reports of BAP1-mutated paraganglioma, suggesting the possible involvement of this gene in paraganglioma (PGL) and pheochromocytoma (PCC) pathogenesis. We assessed BAP1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in a cohort of 56 PCC/PGL patients (and corresponding metastases, when available). Confirmatory Sanger sequencing (exons 1-17) of BAP1 has been performed in those samples which resulted negative by IHC. BAP1 nuclear expression was lost in 2/22 (9.1%) PGLs and in 12/34 (35.3%) PCCs, five of which harboring a germline mutation predisposing the development of such tumors (MENIN, MAX, SDHB, SDHD, and RET gene). Confirmatory Sanger sequencing revealed the wild-type BAP1 status of all the analyzed samples. No heterogeneity between primary and metastatic tissue was observed. This study documents that the loss of BAP1 nuclear expression is quite a frequent finding in PCC/PGL, suggesting a possible role of BAP1 in the pathogenesis of these tumors. Gene mutations do not seem to be involved in this loss of expression, at least in most cases. Other genetic and epigenetic mechanisms need to be further investigated.
U2 - 10.1007/s12022-019-09595-0
DO - 10.1007/s12022-019-09595-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 31734934
VL - 30
SP - 276
EP - 284
JO - Endocrine Pathology
JF - Endocrine Pathology
SN - 1046-3976
IS - 4
ER -