title: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule is expressed in a subset of sarcomas and correlates to the degree of cytological atypia in leiomyosarcomas.
abstract: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a protein involved in cell-to-cell attachment and is considered to be strictly expressed in epithelial tissues and epithelial-derived tumors. Furthermore, EpCAM has been shown to be a negative prognostic marker for several carcinomas. In this study, we performed a genomic meta-analysis of gene expression profiles housed in the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia to demonstrate thatEpCAMmRNA is expressed at low to moderate levels in certain sarcoma cell lines. We utilized immunohistochemical staining to confirm that the EpCAM protein is expressed in a subset of angiosarcomas and leiomyosarcomas and in all the investigated osteosarcomas. Finally, we conducted a statistical analysis of clinical data to demonstrate that EpCAM protein expression is significantly and directly correlated with the degree of cytological atypia in leiomyosarcomas. In conclusion, this data suggests that, contrary to conventional beliefs, EpCAM is expressed in a subset of sarcomas and is a negative prognostic marker for leiomyosarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Kristi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amaya
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Kundan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Dat
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torabi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
authors.forename: Brad A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bryan
keywords: angiosarcoma; cytological atypia; epithelial cell adhesion molecule; leiomyosarcoma; osteosarcoma; sarcoma