Expression pattern of receptor activator of NFκB (RANK) in a series of primary solid tumors and related bone metastases.
Receptor activator of NFκB ligand (RANKL), RANK, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) represent the key regulators of bone metabolism both in normal and pathological conditions, including bone metastases. To our knowledge, no previous studies investigated and compared RANK expression in primary tumors and in bone metastases from the same patient. We retrospectively examined RANK expression by immunohistochemistry in 74 bone metastases tissues from solid tumors, mostly breast, colorectal, renal, lung, and prostate cancer. For 40 cases, tissue from the corresponding primary tumor was also analyzed. Sixty-six (89%) of the 74 bone metastases were RANK-positive and, among these, 40 (59.5%) showed more than 50% of positive tumor cells. The median percentage of RANK-positive cells was 60% in primary tumors and metastases, without any statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.194). The same percentage was obtained by considering only cases with availability of samples both from primary and metastasis. Our study shows that RANK is expressed by solid tumors, with high concordance between bone metastasis and corresponding primary tumor. These data highlight the central role of RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway as potential therapeutic target not only in bone metastasis management, but also in the adjuvant setting.
Santini
Daniele
D
Department of Medical Oncology, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
Perrone
Giuseppe
G
Roato
Ilaria
I
Godio
Laura
L
Pantano
Francesco
F
Grasso
Donatella
D
Russo
Antonio
A
Vincenzi
Bruno
B
Fratto
Maria Elisabetta
ME
Sabbatini
Roberto
R
Della Pepa
Chiara
C
Porta
Camillo
C
Del Conte
Alessandro
A
Schiavon
Gaia
G
Berruti
Alfredo
A
Tomasino
Rosa Maria
RM
Papotti
Mauro
M
Papapietro
Nicola
N
Onetti Muda
Andrea
A
Denaro
Vincenzo
V
Tonini
Giuseppe
G
D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053246:Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*
D053246:Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-kappa B