title: ADAM-9 expression in intestinal-type adenocarcinoma of the sinonasal tract.
abstract: Malignant tumors of the paranasal fossae and sinuses represent 0.2% to 0.8% of all malignant tumors in the body and 3% to 6% of other head and neck tumors. It is possible to distinguish 4 different histologic types of sinonasal malignant tumors: squamous carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma. According to the WHO classification, there are 2 main types of adenocarcinomas: intestinal-type (ITAC) and nonintestinal type. ITACs are generally connected with professional exposure to wood and leather dust. The metalloproteinase 9 (ADAM-9) is a type 1 transmembrane protein that has been associated with cancer development and metastases. Our case of poorly differentiated sinonasal ITAC showed moderate to strong cytoplasmic positivity for ADAM-9 in association with moderate membrane staining for c-erbB-2 oncoprotein. In our opinion, the expression of these proteins could explain the tumoral growth and together they could represent the most interesting targets when designing any tumor treatment scheme.
authors.affiliation: Department G.F. Ingrassia, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, Italy. rosario.caltabiano@unict.it
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caltabiano
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grillo
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nanè
authors.forename: Agostino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.forename: Agostino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Rosalia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lanzafame
mesh_terms: D051722:ADAM Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D004844:Epistaxis; D005094:Exophthalmos; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051722:ADAM Proteins; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C098339:ADAM9 protein, human