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Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1

Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) of the Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) are a heterogeneous group of tumours with varied biologic potential and clinical outcomes. They are classified as well differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (WD NET) or poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (PD NECs) based...

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Main Author: Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
Other Authors: Locketz, Michael Louis
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Pathology 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
author2 Locketz, Michael Louis
author_browse Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
Locketz, Michael Louis
author_facet Locketz, Michael Louis
Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
author_sort Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
collection Thesis
description Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) of the Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) are a heterogeneous group of tumours with varied biologic potential and clinical outcomes. They are classified as well differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (WD NET) or poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (PD NECs) based on morphology. WD NETs are further subtyped (grade 1, 2 or 3) by evaluating the mitotic rate and Ki-67 proliferative index. The most recent grading system was published in 2019 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) is a transcription factor that is expressed in neuroendocrine cells, and recent studies have shown that it is a sensitive and specific marker for neuroendocrine differentiation. The aims of this study were to grade NENs of the GIT according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and to evaluate the expression of INSM1 in order to assess its sensitivity and specificity as a marker of neuroendocrine differentiation compared to chromogranin A (CgA) and synaptophysin (SYN). Sixty-nine GIT NENs diagnosed between 2003 and 2017 at Groote Schuur Hospital were included in this study. The mitotic rate and Ki-67 proliferation index were evaluated for each case. We identified 38 grade 1 NETs, 16 grade 2 NETs, 1 grade 3 NET, 13 small cell type NECs and 1 large cell type NEC. INSM1 immunohistochemical staining was performed on all cases. To assess specificity, we evaluated the expression of INSM1 in other GIT primary tumours (adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumour, lymphoma, leiomyoma and Kaposi sarcoma). Eighty percent of our NEN cases stained with INSM1. We found the sensitivity of INSM1 to be higher than CgA (68%), but lower than SYN (87%) and the combined use of CgA-SYN (94%) when considering all NENs. When evaluating only the PD NEC cases, INSM1 had a higher sensitivity than CgA (50%) and SYN (64%), and an equal sensitivity to the combined use of CgA-SYN (79%). We conclude that the high sensitivity and specificity of INSM1 make it a valuable standalone marker for assessing neuroendocrine differentiation. The nuclear reactivity and high sensitivity of INSM1 make it the preferred neuroendocrine marker for PD NEC.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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publisher Department of Pathology
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32189 Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1 Aldera, Alessandro Pietro Locketz, Michael Louis Govender, Dhirendra Anatomical Pathology Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NENs) of the Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) are a heterogeneous group of tumours with varied biologic potential and clinical outcomes. They are classified as well differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (WD NET) or poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (PD NECs) based on morphology. WD NETs are further subtyped (grade 1, 2 or 3) by evaluating the mitotic rate and Ki-67 proliferative index. The most recent grading system was published in 2019 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) is a transcription factor that is expressed in neuroendocrine cells, and recent studies have shown that it is a sensitive and specific marker for neuroendocrine differentiation. The aims of this study were to grade NENs of the GIT according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and to evaluate the expression of INSM1 in order to assess its sensitivity and specificity as a marker of neuroendocrine differentiation compared to chromogranin A (CgA) and synaptophysin (SYN). Sixty-nine GIT NENs diagnosed between 2003 and 2017 at Groote Schuur Hospital were included in this study. The mitotic rate and Ki-67 proliferation index were evaluated for each case. We identified 38 grade 1 NETs, 16 grade 2 NETs, 1 grade 3 NET, 13 small cell type NECs and 1 large cell type NEC. INSM1 immunohistochemical staining was performed on all cases. To assess specificity, we evaluated the expression of INSM1 in other GIT primary tumours (adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumour, lymphoma, leiomyoma and Kaposi sarcoma). Eighty percent of our NEN cases stained with INSM1. We found the sensitivity of INSM1 to be higher than CgA (68%), but lower than SYN (87%) and the combined use of CgA-SYN (94%) when considering all NENs. When evaluating only the PD NEC cases, INSM1 had a higher sensitivity than CgA (50%) and SYN (64%), and an equal sensitivity to the combined use of CgA-SYN (79%). We conclude that the high sensitivity and specificity of INSM1 make it a valuable standalone marker for assessing neuroendocrine differentiation. The nuclear reactivity and high sensitivity of INSM1 make it the preferred neuroendocrine marker for PD NEC. 2020-09-09T10:57:40Z 2020-09-09T10:57:40Z 2020 2020-09-09T10:57:09Z Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32189 eng application/pdf Department of Pathology Faculty of Health Sciences
spellingShingle Anatomical Pathology
Aldera, Alessandro Pietro
Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
title_full Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
title_fullStr Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
title_full_unstemmed Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
title_short Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract: retrospective classification according to the 2019 WHO grading system, and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker INSM1
title_sort neuroendocrine neoplasms of the digestive tract retrospective classification according to the 2019 who grading system and evaluation of the immunohistochemical marker insm1
topic Anatomical Pathology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32189
work_keys_str_mv AT alderaalessandropietro neuroendocrineneoplasmsofthedigestivetractretrospectiveclassificationaccordingtothe2019whogradingsystemandevaluationoftheimmunohistochemicalmarkerinsm1