title: Expression pattern of receptor activator of NFκB (RANK) in a series of primary solid tumors and related bone metastases.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Roato
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Godio
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pantano
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vincenzi
authors.forename: Maria Elisabetta
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Fratto
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sabbatini
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Della Pepa
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Conte
authors.forename: Gaia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiavon
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berruti
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tomasino
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papotti
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papapietro
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onetti Muda
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Denaro
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tonini
mesh_terms: D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053246:Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D053246:Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-kappa B