Close temporal relationship between onset of cancer and scleroderma in patients with RNA polymerase I/III antibodies.
OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to examine the temporal relationship between scleroderma development and malignancy, and to evaluate whether this differs by autoantibody status among affected patients.


METHODS
Study participants had a diagnosis of scleroderma, a diagnosis of cancer, cancer, an available serum sample, and a cancer pathology specimen. Sera were tested for autoantibodies against topoisomerase I, centromere, and RNA polymerase I/III by immunoprecipitation and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Clinical and demographic characteristics were compared across autoantibody categories. Expression of RNA polymerases I and III was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using cancerous tissue from patients with anti-RNA polymerase antibodies.


RESULTS
Twenty-three patients were enrolled. Six patients tested positive for anti-RNA polymerase I/III, 5 for anti-topoisomerase I, and 8 for anticentromere, and 4 were not positive for any of these antigens. The median duration of scleroderma at cancer diagnosis differed significantly between groups (-1.2 years in the anti-RNA polymerase I/III group, +13.4 years in the anti-topoisomerase I group, +11.1 years in the anticentromere group, and +2.3 years in the group that was negative for all antigens tested) (P = 0.027). RNA polymerase III demonstrated a robust nucleolar staining pattern in 4 of 5 available tumors from patients with antibodies to RNA polymerase I/III. In contrast, nucleolar RNA polymerase III staining was not detected in any of 4 examined tumors from the RNA polymerase antibody-negative group (P = 0.048).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that there is a close temporal relationship between the onset of cancer and scleroderma in patients with antibodies to RNA polymerase I/III, which is distinct from scleroderma patients with other autoantibody specificities. In this study, autoantibody response and tumor antigen expression are associated. We propose that malignancy may initiate the scleroderma-specific immune response and drive disease in a subset of scleroderma patients.
Shah
Ami A
AA
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA. ashah32@jhmi.edu
Rosen
Antony
A
Hummers
Laura
L
Wigley
Fredrick
F
Casciola-Rosen
Livia
L
D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D002503:Centromere / Q000276:immunology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012318:RNA Polymerase I / Q000276:immunology*; D012320:RNA Polymerase III / Q000276:immunology*; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; C033055:anti-extractable nuclear antigen antibodies; D012318:RNA Polymerase I; D012320:RNA Polymerase III; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I