title: Carcinosarcomas: tumors in transition?
abstract: Carcinosarcomas are rare, biphasic tumors that are comprised of carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements. While the exact mechanism by which these two phenotypes arise within a single tumor remains unclear, molecular evidence indicates that the epitheliod and spindle-cell components share a clonal origin. We propose that the biphasic nature of these neoplasms may represent an extreme case of epithelial plasticity, in which an epithelial-like cell undergoes a transition to a more mesenchymal phenotype. The present review will discuss both the histological and molecular biological evidence of the involvement of epithelial plasticity in driving the mixed phenotypes observed in carcinosarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Center for RNA Biology, and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. jason.somarelli@duke.edu.
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Somarelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Mary-Keara
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Boss
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Department of Urology, and Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.affiliation: Solid Tumor Program and the Duke Prostate Center, and Duke Cancer Institute and the Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Center for RNA Biology, and Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Program in Cancer Genetics and Genomics, Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Medical Center, Galveston, TX, USA. m.garciablanco@duke.edu, maragarc@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Mariano A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Garcia-Blanco
mesh_terms: D002296:Carcinosarcoma / Q000473:pathology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis