α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (P504S) is a useful marker for the differential diagnosis of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas

Yanying Shen; Zhaoliang Wang; Jianshan Zhu; Yiming Chen; Wanqing Gu; Qiang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2014.02.006

α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (P504S) is a useful marker for the differential diagnosis of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas

Ann Diagn Pathol. 2014 Jun;18(3):146-50. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2014.02.006. Epub 2014 Feb 25.

Authors

Yanying Shen¹, Zhaoliang Wang¹, Jianshan Zhu¹, Yiming Chen¹, Wanqing Gu¹, Qiang Liu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China.
² Department of Pathology, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China. Electronic address: liu_qiang2013@yeah.net.

PMID: 24675392
DOI: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2014.02.006

Abstract

The differential diagnosis of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) from some other nonductal pancreatic tumors may be difficult because of similarities in morphological features. Therefore, immunohistochemical staining is frequently necessary. α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) is a diagnostically useful marker for prostatic cancer and papillary renal cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate AMACR as a new immunohistochemical marker to differentiate SPNs from other nonductal pancreatic tumors. We investigated immunohistochemical staining for AMACR in 26 SPNs, 21 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and 7 acinar cell carcinomas. All cases of SPN showed granular cytoplasmic expression of AMACR, whereas all cases of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and acinar cell carcinomas were negative for this immunohistochemical marker. Hence, our findings demonstrate for the first time that AMACR is a useful immunohistochemical marker for the differential diagnosis of SPNs.

Keywords: Acinar cell carcinoma; Immunohistochemistry; Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor; Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm; α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
Biopsy
Carcinoma, Acinar Cell / diagnosis*
Carcinoma, Acinar Cell / metabolism
Carcinoma, Papillary / diagnosis
Carcinoma, Papillary / metabolism
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry / methods
Male
Middle Aged
Neuroendocrine Tumors / diagnosis*
Neuroendocrine Tumors / metabolism
Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnosis*
Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
Racemases and Epimerases / metabolism*
Young Adult
beta Catenin / genetics

Substances

Biomarkers, Tumor
CTNNB1 protein, human
beta Catenin
Racemases and Epimerases
alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase