1
|
Knuutila JS, Riihilä P, Nissinen L, Heiskanen L, Kallionpää RE, Pellinen T, Kähäri VM. Cancer-associated fibroblast activation predicts progression, metastasis, and prognosis of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Int J Cancer 2024. [PMID: 38648387 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the most common metastatic skin cancer and the metastatic disease is associated with poor prognosis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote progression of cancer, but their role in cSCC is largely unknown. We examined the potential of CAF markers in the assessment of metastasis risk and prognosis of primary cSCC. We utilized multiplexed fluorescence immunohistochemistry for profiling CAF landscape in metastatic and non-metastatic primary human cSCCs, in metastases, and in premalignant epidermal lesions. Quantitative high-resolution image analysis was performed with two separate panels of antibodies for CAF markers and results were correlated with clinical and histopathological parameters including disease-specific mortality. Increased stromal expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP), α-smooth muscle actin, and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) were associated with progression to invasive cSCC. Elevation of FAP and platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β (PDGFRβ) expression was associated with metastasis risk of primary cSCCs. High expression of PDGFRβ and periostin correlated with poor prognosis. Multimarker combination defined CAF subset, PDGFRα-/PDGFRβ+/FAP+, was associated with invasion and metastasis, and independently predicted poor disease-specific survival. These results identify high PDGFRβ expression alone and multimarker combination PDGFRα-/PDGFRβ+/FAP+ by CAFs as potential biomarkers for risk of metastasis and poor prognosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jaakko S Knuutila
- Department of Dermatology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Pilvi Riihilä
- Department of Dermatology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Liisa Nissinen
- Department of Dermatology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Lauri Heiskanen
- Department of Dermatology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Roosa E Kallionpää
- Auria Biobank, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Teijo Pellinen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), Helsinki, Finland
| | - Veli-Matti Kähäri
- Department of Dermatology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- FICAN West Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| |
Collapse
|