Contribution of quantitative lectin histochemistry to characterizing well-differentiated, dedifferentiated and poorly differentiated liposarcomas.
OBJECTIVE
To find new diagnostic markers in the group of lipomatous tumors.


METHODS
The histochemical lectin staining pattern was characterized in a series of 45 lipomatous lesions, including 10 typical lipomas, 6 atypical lipomas, 8 well-differentiated, 6 myxoid, 5 dedifferentiated and 10 pleomorphic liposarcomas. Three lectins were used-peanut (Arachis hypogaea) agglutinin, which binds to terminal Gal(beta 1,3)GalNAc residues; wheat germ (Triticum vulgare) agglutinin (s-WGA, the succinylated form of WGA), which binds to ((1-4)-D-GlcNAc)n and Neu5NAc residues; and jack bean (Concanavalia ensiformis) agglutinin which binds to alpha-D-Man and alpha-D-Glc residues. Histochemical staining was quantitatively measured by means of a cell image processor.


RESULTS
In the case of certain carbohydrate residues, typical lipomas closely resemble atypical lipomas, which in turn closely resemble well-differentiated liposarcomas; typical lipomas differ significantly from well-differentiated liposarcomas. This indicates that atypical lipomas, or at least some of them, could represent a biologic link between typical lipomas and well-differentiated liposarcomas. While well-differentiated and pleomorphic liposarcomas differed significantly from each other, the poorly differentiated component of dedifferentiated liposarcomas included histochemical lectin properties, which were common to both well-differentiated and pleomorphic liposarcomas.


CONCLUSIONS
Some atypical lipomas exhibit glycohistochemical characteristics that are common to those of well-differentiated liposarcoma. The poorly differentiated component of dedifferentiated liposarcomas remains more differentiated in terms of glycohistochemical markers than do poorly differentiated pleomorphic liposarcomas.
Goldschmidt
D
D
Department of Plastic Surgery, Erasmus Academic Hospital.
Gordower
L
L
Berthe
J V
JV
Remmelink
M
M
Decaestecker
C
C
Petein
M
M
Salmon
I
I
Kiss
R
R
Danguy
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006651:Histocytochemistry / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D037102:Lectins; D008080:Liposarcoma / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis
D037102:Lectins