Person:

Hornick, Jason

Fixed, paraffin-embedded (FPE) tissues are a potentially rich resource for studying the role of NOTCH1 in cancer and other pathologies, but tests that reliably detect activated NOTCH1 (NICD1) in FPE samples have been lacking. Here, we bridge this gap by developing an immunohistochemical (IHC) stain that detects a neoepitope created by the proteolytic cleavage event that activates NOTCH1. Following validation using xenografted cancers and normal tissues with known patterns of NOTCH1 activation, we applied this test to tumors linked to dysregulated Notch signaling by mutational studies. As expected, frequent NICD1 staining was observed in T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma, a tumor in which activating NOTCH1 mutations are common. However, when IHC was used to gauge NOTCH1 activation in other human cancers, several unexpected findings emerged. Among B cell tumors, NICD1 staining was much more frequent in chronic lymphocytic leukemia than would be predicted based on the frequency of NOTCH1 mutations, while mantle cell lymphoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma showed no evidence of NOTCH1 activation. NICD1 was also detected in 38% of peripheral T cell lymphomas. Of interest, NICD1 staining in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells and in angioimmunoblastic lymphoma was consistently more pronounced in lymph nodes than in surrounding soft tissues, implicating factors in the nodal microenvironment in NOTCH1 activation in these diseases. Among carcinomas, diffuse strong NICD1 staining was observed in 3.8% of cases of triple negative breast cancer (3 of 78 tumors), but was absent from 151 non-small cell lung carcinomas and 147 ovarian carcinomas. Frequent staining of normal endothelium was also observed; in line with this observation, strong NICD1 staining was also seen in 77% of angiosarcomas. These findings complement insights from genomic sequencing studies and suggest that IHC staining is a valuable experimental tool that may be useful in selection of patients for clinical trials.

INTRODUCTION

ALK gene rearrangements occur in ~5% of lung adenocarcinomas (ACA), leading to ALK overexpression and predicting response to targeted therapy. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the gold standard for detection of ALK rearrangements in lung ACA but requires specialized equipment and expertise. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for ALK protein overexpression is a promising screening modality, with reports of newer antibodies showing excellent sensitivity and specificity for ALK-rearranged lung ACA.

METHODS

In this study, we analyze ALK IHC (5A4 clone) in 186 cases from our clinical service and compare with ALK FISH and EGFR and KRAS mutation status.

RESULTS

Twelve cases had concordant ALK protein overexpression and ALK rearrangement by FISH. Three ALK-rearranged cases lacked ALK protein expression. Of these discrepant cases, one had a coexisting EGFR mutation and a subtle “atypical” ALK rearrangement with a break in the 5’ centromeric portion of the FISH probe. One case had a concurrent BRAF mutation; followup testing on a metastasis revealed absence of the ALK-rearrangement with persistent BRAF mutation. In one ALK-rearranged, protein negative case, very limited tissue remained for ALK IHC, raising the possibility of false negativity due to protein expression heterogeneity. Importantly, ALK protein expression was detected in one case initially thought not to have an ALK rearrangement. In this case, FISH was falsely negative due to interference by benign reactive nuclei. After correcting for these cases, ALK IHC was 93% sensitive and 100% specific as compared to FISH.

CONCLUSIONS

ALK IHC improves the detection of ALK rearrangements when used together with FISH, and its use in lung adenocarcinoma genetic testing algorithms should be considered.

Many patients with stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma will develop recurrence following surgical excision. Sox2 is a marker of embryonic stem cell pluripotency that is associated with aggressive tumor behavior and is expressed in a subset of lung adenocarcinomas. We hypothesized that Sox2 expression may provide prognostic information in early stage lung adenocarcinomas. We evaluated formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue from 104 stage I lung adenocarcinomas resected between 1997 and 2000. Sox2 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and compared to clinicopathologic features, time-to-progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS). Sox2 expression was detected in 50% of cases and was more frequent in tumors from older and male patients but not significantly associated with smoking status, tumor stage, grade, or histologic subtype. Compared to Sox2-negative tumors, Sox2 expression predicted a shorter TTP (49% versus 82% at 5 years; P = 0.0006) and shorter OS (54% versus 79% at 5 years; P = 0.004). By multivariate analysis, Sox2 expression predicted a greater risk of progression among men (hazard ratio [HR] 5.6; 95% CI 2.3 to 13.8) and women (HR 2.1; 95% CI 0.8 to 5.7). Sox2 expression was associated with significantly shorter OS among men (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 5.1), but not in women. Sox2 appears to be an independent predictor of poor outcome in stage I lung adenocarcinomas and may help stratify patients at increased risk for recurrence.

Purpose Approximately 5% of lung adenocarcinomas harbor an EML4-ALK gene fusion and define a unique tumor group that may be responsive to targeted therapy. However ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas are difficult to detect by either standard fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) or immunohistochemical (IHC) assays. In the present study we used novel antibodies to compare ALK protein expression in genetically defined lung cancers and anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL).

Experimental Design We analyzed 174 tumors with one standard, and two novel monoclonal antibodies recognizing the ALK protein. Immunostained tissue sections were assessed for the level of tumor-specific ALK expression by objective quantitative image analysis and independently by three pathologists.

Results ALK protein is invariably and exclusively expressed in ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas but at much lower levels than in the prototypic ALK-rearranged tumor, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and as a result, often not detected by conventional IHC. We further validate a novel IHC that shows excellent sensitivity and specificity (100% and 99%, respectively) for the detection of ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas in biopsy specimens with excellent interobserver agreement between pathologists (kappa statistic, 0.94).

Conclusions Low levels of ALK protein expression is a characteristic feature of ALK-rearranged lung adenocarcinomas. However a novel, highly sensitive IHC assay reliably detects lung adenocarcinomas with ALK rearrangements and obviates the need for FISH analysis for the majority of cases and therefore could be routinely applicable in clinical practice to detect lung cancers that may be responsive to ALK inhibitors.