A broad survey of cathepsin K immunoreactivity in human neoplasms.
Cathepsin K is consistently and diffusely expressed in alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) and a subset of translocation renal cell carcinomas (RCCs). However, cathepsin K expression in human neoplasms has not been systematically analyzed. We constructed tissue microarrays (TMA) from a wide variety of human neoplasms, and performed cathepsin K immunohistochemistry (IHC). Only 2.7% of 1,140 carcinomas from various sites exhibited cathepsin K labeling, thus suggesting that among carcinomas, cathepsin K labeling is highly specific for translocation RCC. In contrast to carcinomas, cathepsin K labeling was relatively common (54.6%) in the 414 mesenchymal lesions studied, including granular cell tumor, melanoma, and histiocytic lesions, but not paraganglioma, all of which are in the morphologic differential diagnosis of ASPS. Cathepsin K IHC can be helpful in distinguishing ASPS and translocation RCC from some but not all of the lesions in their differential diagnosis.
Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Gang
G
Zheng
Guido
G
Martignoni
Cristina
C
Antonescu
Elizabeth
E
Montgomery
Charles
C
Eberhart
George
G
Netto
Janis
J
Taube
William
W
Westra
Jonathan I
JI
Epstein
Tamara
T
Lotan
Anirban
A
Maitra
Edward
E
Gabrielson
Michael
M
Torbenson
Christine
C
Iacobuzio-Donahue
Angelo
A
Demarzo
Ie Ming
IeM
Shih
Peter
P
Illei
T C
TC
Wu
Pedram
P
Argani
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000236:Adenoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D056657:Cathepsin K / Q000378:metabolism*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D016586:Granular Cell Tumor / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015620:Histiocytic Disorders, Malignant / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018234:Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft Part / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D056657:Cathepsin K