SOX9 Is Highly Expressed in Nonampullary Duodenal Adenoma and Adenocarcinoma in Humans.
OBJECTIVE
SOX9 is a marker for stem cells in the intestine, and overexpression of SOX9 is found in gastric and colon cancer; however, the expression of SOX9 in nonampullary duodenal adenoma and adenocarcinoma has not yet been evaluated. This study aimed to investigate SOX9 expression in nonampullary duodenal adenoma and adenocarcinoma by immunohistochemistry.


METHODS
We evaluated SOX9 expression in 43 clinical samples (nonampullary duodenal adenoma in 22 lesions and nonampullary duodenal adenocarcinoma in 21 lesions) resected under endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection.


RESULTS
SOX9 was expressed in part of the base of the normal duodenal mucosa surrounding adenomas and adenocarcinomas. In contrast, SOX9-positive cells were found in more than half of the crypts from the bottom part of the crypt in all of the 43 samples. Moreover, in 15 adenoma samples (68.2%) and 19 carcinoma samples (90.5%), SOX9 was expressed in more than three-quarters of the crypts from the bottom part of the crypt.


CONCLUSIONS
SOX9 is overexpressed in nonampullary duodenal adenoma and adenocarcinoma in humans.
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Japan.
Hirotsugu
H
Sakamoto
Hiroyuki
H
Mutoh
Yoshimasa
Y
Miura
Miho
M
Sashikawa
Hironori
H
Yamamoto
Kentaro
K
Sugano
Duodenal adenocarcinoma; Duodenal adenoma; SOX9