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Barletta JA, Gilday SD, Afkhami M, Bell D, Bocklage T, Boisselier P, Chau NG, Cipriani NA, Costes-Martineau V, Ghossein RA, Hertzler HJ, Kramer AM, Limaye S, Lopez CA, Ng TL, Weissferdt A, Xu B, Zhang S, French CA. NUTM1 -rearranged Carcinoma of the Thyroid : A Distinct Subset of NUT Carcinoma Characterized by Frequent NSD3 - NUTM1 Fusions. Am J Surg Pathol 2022; 46:1706-1715. [PMID: 36040068 PMCID: PMC9669222 DOI: 10.1097/pas.0000000000001967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
NUT carcinoma (NC) is a rare subtype of squamous cell carcinoma defined by NUTM1 rearrangements encoding NUT fusion oncoproteins (the most frequent fusion partner being BRD4 ) that carries a very poor prognosis, with most patients dying in under 1 year. Only rare primary thyroid NCs have been reported. Here, we evaluated a series of 14 cases. The median patient age at diagnosis was 38 years (range: 17 to 72 y). Eight of 13 cases with slides available for review (62%) showed a morphology typical of NC, whereas 5 (38%) had a non-NC-like morphology, some of which had areas of cribriform or fused follicular architecture resembling a follicular cell-derived thyroid carcinoma. For cases with immunohistochemistry results, 85% (11/13) were positive for NUT on biopsy or resection, though staining was significantly decreased on resection specimens due to fixation; 55% (6/11) were positive for PAX8, and 54% (7/13) for TTF-1. Tumors with a non-NC-like morphology were all positive for PAX8 and TTF-1. The fusion partner was known in 12 cases: 9 (75%) cases had a NSD3-NUTM1 fusion, and 3 (25%) had a BRD4-NUTM1 fusion. For our cohort, the 2-year overall survival (OS) was 69%, and the 5-year OS was 58%. Patients with NC-like tumors had a significantly worse OS compared with that of patients with tumors with a non-NC-like morphology ( P =0.0462). Our study shows that NC of the thyroid can mimic other thyroid primaries, has a high rate of NSD3 - NUTM1 fusions, and an overall more protracted clinical course compared with nonthyroid primary NC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine A. Barletta
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Steven D. Gilday
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michelle Afkhami
- Department of Pathology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Diana Bell
- Department of Pathology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Theresa Bocklage
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| | - Pierre Boisselier
- Department of Radiation Oncology, ICM, Montpellier Cancer Institute, Montpellier, France
| | - Nicole G. Chau
- Department of Medical Oncology, BC Cancer, Vancouver BC, Canada
| | | | | | - Ronald A. Ghossein
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hans J. Hertzler
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Sewanti Limaye
- Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai, India
| | - Carlos A. Lopez
- Division of Medical Oncology & Hematology, Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Lake Success, NY 11042, USA
| | - Tony L. Ng
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Annikka Weissferdt
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Bin Xu
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Songlin Zhang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX
| | - Christopher A. French
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Agaimy A, Haller F, Renner A, Niedermeyer J, Hartmann A, French CA. Misleading Germ Cell Phenotype in Pulmonary NUT Carcinoma Harboring the ZNF532- NUTM1 Fusion. Am J Surg Pathol 2022; 46:281-288. [PMID: 34232599 PMCID: PMC8741879 DOI: 10.1097/pas.0000000000001774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
NUT carcinoma (aka NUT midline carcinoma) is a rare, still significantly underrecognized aggressive malignancy. Although historically considered a midline malignancy of children and young adults, NUT carcinoma can originate in almost any body site and in any age group. Beside the classic BRD4-NUTM1 fusion, less common fusion partners include BRD3, NSD3, ZNF532, and ZNF592. Other fusions, including CIC, MGA, MXD4, MXD1, and BCORL1 are associated with sarcomas or cancers of unknown histogenesis. Involvement of the Z4 zinc finger protein (ZNF) family members ZNF532 and ZNF592 is exceedingly rare with only 3 recently reported cases. We herein describe a ZNF532-NUTM1-rearranged NUT carcinoma presenting as a 7.5 cm mass in the left lower lung lobe of a 65-year-old woman. Histology revealed undifferentiated monotonous small round cells with focal epithelioid and rhabdoid elements within a variably myxoid stroma. Immunohistochemistry revealed paucity of keratins and variable p63 combined with extensive CD30 and PLAP expression, leading to initial diagnoses of combined small cell carcinoma, CD30-positive unclassified hematolymphoid malignancy and malignant germ cell neoplasm. Negativity for other more specific germ cell markers justified seeking a fourth opinion, which revealed diffuse expression of the NUT antibody. The diagnosis was then confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Targeted RNA sequencing revealed the ZNF532-NUTM1 fusion. Screening of 7 NUT carcinomas (5 with BRD4-NUTM1 and 2 with NSD3-NUTM1 fusions) for germ cell markers revealed focal SALL4 reactivity in 3 cases (combined with variable AFP expression in 2), but none expressed CD30 or PLAP. An aberrant germ cell immunophenotype should be considered in NUT carcinoma to avoid misinterpretation as genuine germ cell malignancy as both diseases predominantly affect the young population, frequently involve the mediastinum and can be associated with elevated serum AFP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbas Agaimy
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Florian Haller
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany
| | - André Renner
- Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Heart and Diabetes Center North Rhine Westphalia, Bad Oeynhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
| | - Jost Niedermeyer
- Clinic for General and Interventional Cardiology/Angiology, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum NRW, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
| | - Arndt Hartmann
- Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany
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