The proliferation marker Chromatin Assembly Factor-1 is of clinical value in predicting the biological behaviour of salivary gland tumours.
Salivary gland tumours (SGT) constitute a diagnostically challenging group of neoplasms with frequently unpredictable clinical outcome. The proliferation rate facilitates the identification of aggressive SGT. The Chromatin Assembly Factor-1 (CAF-1) is a major epigenetic regulator of nuclear chromatin organization during DNA replication. It plays a critical function in human tumourigenesis and has been proposed as a new proliferation and prognostic marker for some malignancies. This study focused on the role of CAF-1/p60 protein as a marker of clinical value for SGT. The expression of CAF-1/p60 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on a retrospective series of 362 surgically excised benign and malignant SGT with different histogenesis and, when available, on fine-needle pre-surgical cytological biopsies. The resulting data were compared with traditional prognostic parameters, including the expression of the routine proliferation marker ki67/MIB1. CAF-1/p60 was detectable in all SGT, with highest degree of expression in metastasizing malignant tumours. Moreover, the cases of benign tumours which progressed to carcinoma during the follow-up, showed significantly higher CAF-1/p60 expression than non-progressing benign SGT, both on histological sections and cytological smears of the primary tumour. Cox's multiple regression analysis selected CAF-1/p60 expression as the best independent predictor of cancer development for benign SGT (p<0.0001), and the best independent predictor of metastasis onset for malignant tumours (p<0.0004). Overexpression of CAF-1/p60, on histological and/or cytological samples, characterizes malignant SGT with aggressive behaviour, irrespective of their specific histotype, and allows the early diagnosis of progression toward malignancy of morphologically benign tumours.
Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, Pathology Section, School of Medicine, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy. staibano@unina.it
Stefania
S
Staibano
Massimo
M
Mascolo
Alba
A
Rocco
Lorenzo
L
Lo Muzio
Gennaro
G
Ilardi
Maria
M
Siano
Giuseppe
G
Pannone
Maria Luisa
ML
Vecchione
Loredana
L
Nugnes
Luigi
L
Califano
Rosanna
R
Zamparese
Pantaleo
P
Bufo
Gaetano
G
De Rosa
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002648:Child; D056504:Chromatin Assembly Factor-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C533593:CHAF1B protein, human; D056504:Chromatin Assembly Factor-1