{"title":"Prognostic Value of Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Marker Expression in the Intratumoral and Marginal Areas of Soft Tissue Sarcoma.","authors":"Michinobu Umakoshi, Yukitsugu Kudo-Asabe, Hiroyuki Tsuchie, Zhuo Li, Kei Koyama, Ken Miyabe, Makoto Yoshida, Hiroyuki Nagasawa, Hiroshi Nanjo, Kyoji Okada, Daichi Maeda, Naohisa Miyakoshi, Masamitsu Tanaka, Akiteru Goto","doi":"10.1159/000539855","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The tumor microenvironment of sarcomas has not been studied in detail; in particular, little is known about cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Sarcoma cells are difficult to distinguish from CAFs, either histomorphologically or immunohistochemically.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We scored the expression of individual CAF markers (fibroblast-activating protein [FAP], CD10, and podoplanin) in the intratumoral and marginal areas of 133 sarcomas. We also examined the association between these markers, as well as the number of CD163-positive macrophages (i.e., tumor-associated macrophages), and clinical outcome.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In all cases, the log-rank test revealed that those with high marker scores and macrophage counts (except for marginal CD10+ CAFs) showed significantly worse disease-free survival (DFS). Grade 2/3 cases with high CAF scores (excluding the marginal FAP and CD10 scores) showed significantly worse DFS, whereas those with high intratumoral FAP/CD10 and marginal podoplanin scores showed significantly worse metastasis-free survival (MFS), and those with high intratumoral CD10 score showed significantly worse local recurrence-free survival (LFS). Multivariate analysis identified intratumoral CD10/podoplanin scores and marginal FAP/podoplanin scores as independent prognostic factors for DFS, intratumoral FAP/CD10 and marginal FAP/podoplanin/CD163-positive macrophage scores as independent prognostic factors for MFS, and the intratumoral podoplanin score as an independent prognostic factor for LFS. There was a weak-to-moderate correlation between each score and CD163-positive macrophage counts.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patients with high CAF marker expression in the intratumoral and marginal areas have a poorer outcome.</p>","PeriodicalId":19805,"journal":{"name":"Pathobiology","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pathobiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1159/000539855","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CELL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: The tumor microenvironment of sarcomas has not been studied in detail; in particular, little is known about cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Sarcoma cells are difficult to distinguish from CAFs, either histomorphologically or immunohistochemically.
Methods: We scored the expression of individual CAF markers (fibroblast-activating protein [FAP], CD10, and podoplanin) in the intratumoral and marginal areas of 133 sarcomas. We also examined the association between these markers, as well as the number of CD163-positive macrophages (i.e., tumor-associated macrophages), and clinical outcome.
Results: In all cases, the log-rank test revealed that those with high marker scores and macrophage counts (except for marginal CD10+ CAFs) showed significantly worse disease-free survival (DFS). Grade 2/3 cases with high CAF scores (excluding the marginal FAP and CD10 scores) showed significantly worse DFS, whereas those with high intratumoral FAP/CD10 and marginal podoplanin scores showed significantly worse metastasis-free survival (MFS), and those with high intratumoral CD10 score showed significantly worse local recurrence-free survival (LFS). Multivariate analysis identified intratumoral CD10/podoplanin scores and marginal FAP/podoplanin scores as independent prognostic factors for DFS, intratumoral FAP/CD10 and marginal FAP/podoplanin/CD163-positive macrophage scores as independent prognostic factors for MFS, and the intratumoral podoplanin score as an independent prognostic factor for LFS. There was a weak-to-moderate correlation between each score and CD163-positive macrophage counts.
Conclusion: Patients with high CAF marker expression in the intratumoral and marginal areas have a poorer outcome.
期刊介绍:
''Pathobiology'' offers a valuable platform for the publication of high-quality original research into the mechanisms underlying human disease. Aiming to serve as a bridge between basic biomedical research and clinical medicine, the journal welcomes articles from scientific areas such as pathology, oncology, anatomy, virology, internal medicine, surgery, cell and molecular biology, and immunology. Published bimonthly, ''Pathobiology'' features original research papers and reviews on translational research. The journal offers the possibility to publish proceedings of meetings dedicated to one particular topic.