Treatment of craniofacial fibrous dysplasia: a case report

The concept of "fibro-osseous lesions" of bone has evolved over the last several years and now includes two mayor entities: the fibrous dysplasia (FD) and the cement-ossifying fibroma (COF). Fibrous dysplasia is considered to be a developmental, tumor-like (hamartomatous), fibro-osseous disease of unknown etiology. There is a maxillary predominance when craniofacial FD occurs in the jaws and the maxillary sinus is commonly involved. Differentiation of OF from FD is important because of differences in treatment and behaviour. This article report a case of 60-year-old female with a history of painless unilateral palatal swelling.

Fibrous dysplasia

Fibrous dysplasia is a developmental abnormality of bone that is characterized by a highly disorganized mixture of immature fibrous tissue and fragments of immature trabecular bone. Fibrous dysplasia may arise as a single, discrete (monostotic) lesion or can occur with a more widespread distribution with multiple lesions that affect many bones (oligo- or polyostotic). Fibrous dysplasia is usually an isolated skeletal finding but can sometimes occur as a component of a multisystem developmental disorder known as McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) that is also associated with endocrine hyperfunction (e.g. precocious puberty) and caf au lait cutaneous macules. The identification of activating mutations in GNAS in a subset of human GH-secreting pituitary tumors and autonomously functioning human thyroid tumors provided the initial basis for understanding the molecular pathophysiology of McCune-Albright syndrome and fibrous dysplasia. These observations led to the concept that activating mutations of the GNAS gene convert it into a putative oncogene referred to as gsp (Gsa or Gas). The classic radiographic feature of fibrous dysplasia is a hazy, radiolucent, or ground-glass, pattern resulting from the defective mineralization of immature dysplastic bone; it is usually strikingly different from the radiographic appearance of normal bone, calcified cartilage, or soft tissue. The surgical approach to fibrous dysplasia should in general be conservative. Recent research suggests that the WntlB-catenin pathway may play a role in fibrous dysplasia as patients with activating GNAS mutations specifically showed that Gas mutations activated Wnt/B-catenin signaling. Thus inhibition of 8-catenin signaling or silencing GNAS alleles that encode constitutively active Gsa molecules in fibrous dysplasia and McCune-Albright syndrome offer potential therapeutic promise and deserve further study. In summary fibrous dysplasia is a developmental abnormality of bone with a known molecular etiology; Further knowledge about the molecular pathology of fibrous dysplasia may lead to improved conservative therapies in the near future.

Monostotic fibrous dysplasia of the proximal femur and liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor: which one is which?

Clinical, histological, and genetic studies of two cases of isolated fibro-osseous lesions of the femur in adults show the overlap between monostotic fibrous dysplasia (MFD) of the proximal femur and the so-called liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor. The two cases highlight how the incomplete understanding of the natural history of MFD may result in diagnostic pitfalls or incorrect classification of individual lesions.

A highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction method detects activating mutations of the GNAS gene in peripheral blood cells in McCune-Albright syndrome or isolated fibrous dysplasia

BACKGROUND

The somatic nature of mutations in the GNAS gene in McCune-Albright syndrome and isolated fibrous dysplasia makes their identification difficult. Conventional methods for the detection of mosaic mutations of GNAS have required polymerase chain reaction analysis of genomic DNA from affected tissues or multiple rounds of tandem polymerase chain reaction and endonuclease digestion to enrich for mutant alleles in genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from other tissues. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) primers specifically block synthesis from the nonmutant or wild-type allele. We therefore used PNA-clamping to detect low copy numbers of mutant GNAS alleles in DNA from peripheral blood cells from patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and fibrous dysplasia.

METHODS

We applied the PNA-clamping method to the analysis of genomic DNA from peripheral blood cells of thirteen patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and three patients with isolated fibrous dysplasia. Polymerase chain reaction was performed in the presence and absence of PNA, and the polymerase chain reaction products were sequenced. In the absence of PNA, a strong 325 base-pair polymerase chain reaction band was generated from all samples; in the presence of PNA, there was an approximately 50% to 90% reduction in the intensity of this polymerase chain reaction product.

RESULTS

In the absence of PNA, direct sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction products demonstrated R201 mutations in GNAS alleles of three of the thirteen patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and none of the three patients with fibrous dysplasia. In contrast, in the presence of PNA, R201 mutations were detected in eleven of the thirteen patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and in all three of the patients with fibrous dysplasia. In mixing experiments involving the use of wild-type and mutant DNA samples, we were able to determine the presence of a mutant GNAS allele in the equivalent of one cell in 1000 to 5000 cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Inclusion of a specific PNA primer in the polymerase chain reaction for GNAS exon 8 allows the selective amplification of low numbers of mutant alleles, and it permits detection of activating mutations in genomic DNA from peripheral blood cells in patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and fibrous dysplasia.

Bone morphogenetic proteins are expressed by both bone-forming and non-bone-forming lesions

CONTEXT

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are thought to be responsible for bone formation; they cause bone to form in soft tissues and are clinically used in helping fracture union or tumor reconstructions. Skeletal metastases from epithelial tumors may be either bone-forming (blastic) or non-bone-forming (lytic).

OBJECTIVE

We studied the expression of BMPs in a variety of primary and secondary lesions of bone (both bone-forming and non-bone-forming) to determine if there was a consistent relationship between bone formation and BMP expression.

DESIGN

We compared a bone-forming lesion (fibrous dysplasia) with a non-bone-forming lesion (desmoid tumor), using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Northern blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry to detect BMPs. We also studied a number of non-bone-forming secondary lesions (carcinomas that formed lytic metastases to the skeleton) and found BMP production in most of these tumors.

RESULTS

We found that BMPs were expressed in both bone-forming and non-bone-forming benign musculoskeletal lesions. In the first part of the study, BMPs were found in both fibrous dysplasia and desmoid tumors. Bone morphogenetic proteins were also expressed by several tumors. In the next part of the study (paraffin-embedded tissue), BMPs were expressed by a variety of tumors, irrespective of the radiological nature (blastic or lytic) of their metastases.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that BMP production alone cannot explain bone formation, and other factors either alone or in combination may be responsible for blastic metastases to the skeleton and for bone formation by primary bone lesions, such as fibrous dysplasia.

Investigation of the GSα gene in the diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia

Fibrous dysplasia is a benign fibro-osseous disease of bone and its etiology has been previously established. Activating mutations in the gene that encodes the alpha subunit of stimulatory G protein (G(S)alpha) has been described in monostotic and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia and in the McCune-Albright syndrome. The present report describes a patient with monostotic fibrous dysplasia which diagnosis was confirmed by sequencing of the G(S)alpha gene, demonstrating a heterozygous missense mutation on codon 201 (201C --> T). Due to the high prevalence of G(S)alpha gene mutations in fibrous dysplasia in contrast to other benign and malignant fibrous-osseous lesions, mutational analysis are an additional and helpful parameter for the diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia in selected cases.

Immunoexpression of neurofibromin, S-100 protein, and leu-7 and mutation analysis of the NF1 gene at codon 1423 in osteofibrous dysplasia

The NF1 (neurofibromatosis type 1, or von Recklinghausen disease) gene, is a tumor-suppressor gene, and its product, neurofibromin, down-regulates ras protein by its guanosine triphosphatase-activating protein (GAP)-related domain. Osteofibrous dysplasia (OFD) is characterized by fibroblast-like spindle cells and osseous tissue and is generally seen in the tibia or fibula during childhood. The precise nature of OFD remains controversial. Cosegregations of OFD and NF1 have been reported, and it has been surmised that OFD is associated with the NF1 gene. We studied the expressions of NF1 gene product (neurofibromin) and so-called Schwann cell markers (S-100 protein, Leu-7) in 17 cases of OFD immunohistochemically. Ten cases of fibrous dysplasia (FD) were also used for the purpose of comparison. Five OFD and 7 FD cases were analyzed for NF1 gene mutation at codon 1423, which is a GAP-related domain, by single-strand conformation polymorphism. Fibroblast-like cells of OFD showed the expression of neurofibromin (5 of 17), S-100 protein (9 of 17), and Leu-7 (5 of 17), and those of FD did not show these expressions, with the exception of 1 case that showed Leu-7 expression. Regarding the OFD cases, significant correspondence was found between cases showing expression of neurofibromin and S-100 protein, between cases showing expression of neurofibromin and Leu-7, and between cases showing expression of S-100 protein and Leu-7 (P < .01). NF1 gene mutation at codon 1423 was not detected in either the OFD (0 of 5) or FD (0 of 7) cases. These results seem to suggest the possible involvement of neurofibromin in the development of OFD, which is associated with the expression of Schwann cell markers (S-100 protein and Leu-7). Furthermore, NF1 gene mutation at codon 1423 did not seem to be related to OFD.

Gsalpha gene mutations in monostotic fibrous dysplasia of bone and fibrous dysplasia-like low-grade central osteosarcoma

A series of nine cases with monostotic fibrous dysplasia (FD) and five cases of fibrous dysplasia-like low-grade central osteosarcoma (fd-like lgcOSA) were applied in a mutational analysis. Restriction digestion analysis, single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, and repeated sequencing demonstrated a R201H mutation in six cases and a R201C mutation in three cases of patients with monostotic FD. These results demonstrate that the presence of Gsalpha gene mutations is a constant finding in monostotic FD. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature investigating Gsalpha gene mutations in lgcOSA, which is one of the most important differential diagnoses of FD because of its low-grade malignant behavior. In four of five cases of fd-like lgcOSA, no mutation has been detected. In one case of this tumor, a R201C mutation could be demonstrated. Because our results demonstrate a low prevalence of Gsalpha gene mutations in this tumor in contrast to monostotic FD, mutational analysis may be an additional helpful parameter in individual cases for the differential diagnosis of FD and fd-like lgcOSA.

Cellular and molecular basis of fibrous dysplasia

Recent advances have been made in the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in monostotic and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a rare nonmalignant disease causing bone deformations and fractures. The molecular basis of fibrous dysplasia has been clarified when mutations affecting the stimulatory alpha subunit of G protein (Gs) have been found in dysplastic bone lesions. The histological analysis of dysplastic lesions revealed that the mutations in Gsalpha caused abnormalities in cells of the osteoblastic lineage and therefore in the bone matrix. Further in vitro analyses of bone cells from mutant dysplastic bone lesions revealed that the abnormal deposition of immature bone matrix in fibrous dysplasia results from decreased differentiation and increased proliferation of osteoblastic cells. Finally, the signaling pathway involved in these osteoblastic abnormalities has been identified. It is now apparent that the constitutive elevation in cAMP level induced by the Gsalpha mutations leads to alterations in the expression of several target genes whose promoters contain cAMP-responsive elements, such as c-fos, c-jun, Il-6 and Il-11. This in turn affects the transcription and expression of downstream genes and results in the alterations of osteoblast recruitment and function in dysplastic bone lesions. These mechanisms provide a cellular and molecular basis for the alterations in bone cells and bone matrix in fibrous dysplasia.

A comparative study of fibrous dysplasia and osteofibrous dysplasia with regard to Gsalpha mutation at the Arg201 codon: polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of paraffin-embedded tissues

Fibrous dysplasia and osteofibrous dysplasia are both benign fibro-osseous lesions of the bone and are generally seen during childhood or adolescence. Histologically, the features of these bone lesions sometimes look quite similar, but their precise nature remains controversial. Mutation of the alpha subunit of signal-transducing G proteins (Gsalpha), with an increase in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) formation, has been implicated in the development of multiple endocrinopathies of the Albright-McCune syndrome and in the development of fibrous dysplasia. We studied Gsalpha mutation at the Arg201. codon in seven cases of fibrous dysplasia (six monostotic lesions and one polyostotic lesion) and seven cases of osteofibrous dysplasia using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue, by means of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct sequencing analysis. All of the seven cases of fibrous dysplasia showed missense point mutations in Gsalpha at the Arg201 codon that resulted in Arg-to-His substitution in three cases and Arg-to-Cys substitution in four cases. On the other hand, the seven cases of osteofibrous dysplasia and the normal bone used as a control showed no such mutation. These data suggest that fibrous dysplasia and osteofibrous dysplasia have different pathogeneses and that the detection of Gsalpha mutation at the Arg201 codon is quite useful for distinguishing between these lesions.

Etiology of fibrous dysplasia and McCune-Albright syndrome

In this paper, the etiology of monostotic fibrous dysplasia and McCune-Albright syndrome is explained. Both monostotic fibrous dysplasia and McCune-Albright syndrome are sporadically occurring disorders in which a mutation in the GNAS1 gene occurs postzygotically in a somatic cell. All cells descended from the mutated cell can manifest features of McCune-Albright syndrome or fibrous dysplasia. Cells descended from non-mutated cells develop into normal tissues. Thus, the clinical pattern is variable in distribution and appearance. More generalized vs more localized expression depend on (a) how small or how large the cell mass is during embryogenesis when the mutation occurs and (b) where in the cell mass the mutation occurs. Topics discussed include G proteins and their receptors, cycling of stimulatory G protein between active and inactive forms, and specific mutations in GNAS1. We also discuss four possibilities: (a) Are there masked mutations? (b) Are there effects of imprinting? (c) Are there non-classical mutations? and (d) Is fibrous dysplasia a neoplasm?

Increased proliferation of osteoblastic cells expressing the activating Gs alpha mutation in monostotic and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia

We studied the osteoblastic abnormalities resulting from activating mutation of the Gs alpha gene in two patients with McCune-Albright syndrome and one patient with monostotic fibrous dysplasia. Histomorphometric analysis of dysplastic lesions showed a low number of differentiated osteoblasts along the bone surface and numerous immature alkaline phosphatase-positive mesenchymal cells actively depositing a woven bone matrix. Osteoblastic cells isolated from dysplastic bone lesions expressed a missense mutation in the Gs alpha gene in position 201 and showed increased intracellular basal cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate levels compared with normal cells isolated from a noninvolved area in the same patient. Cell proliferation evaluated by DNA synthesis was two-fold to threefold greater in osteoblastic cells expressing the mutation compared with normal cells from the same patient and was greater in cells isolated from more severe than less severe fibrotic lesions. In contrast, the synthesis of osteocalcin, a marker of mature osteoblasts, was lower in osteoblastic cells expressing the Gs alpha mutation compared with normal cells from the same patient and was lower in cells isolated from severe compared with less severe fibrotic lesions, indicating that the increased growth in mutated osteoblastic cells was associated with reduced cell differentiation. The results show that activating mutation of Gs alpha in osteoblastic cells leads to constitutive activation of adenylate cyclase, increased cell proliferation, and inappropriate cell differentiation, resulting in overproduction of a disorganized fibrotic bone matrix in polyostotic and monostotic fibrous dysplasia.

Activating mutations of Gs protein in monostotic fibrous lesions of bone

Activating mutations of the alpha chain of the heterotrimeric signal transducer Gs disrupt the inherent guanosine triphosphatase activity of the alpha chain, stimulate adenylyl cyclase, and can result in independent cell proliferation. Such mutations are identified in a number of endocrine disorders, including McCune-Albright syndrome, which is a triad of endocrinopathy, café au lait spots, and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. The mutation in this syndrome is a missense point mutation in exon 8 that results in the substitution of either histidine or cysteine for arginine at position 201. Monostotic fibrous dysplasia is a nonhereditary isolated bone lesion. Other isolated bone lesions that share some cytologic and clinical similarities to fibrous dysplasia are osteofibrous dysplasia and aggressive fibromatosis involving bone. Four cases of monostotic fibrous dysplasia, four cases of aggressive fibromatosis involving bone, and one case of osteofibrous dysplasia were studied to determine if a mutation was present in exon 8 of the alpha chain of Gs. A missense mutation was present in all of the fibrous dysplasias. The other fibrous lesions and uninvolved tissue did not contain a mutation. Somatic activating mutations of Gs differentiate fibrous dysplasia from the other lesions and may be responsible for the loss of control of local proliferation and growth factor expression.

Clonal structural chromosome aberrations in fibrous dysplasia

Cytogenetic analysis of short-term cultures from a case of monostotic fibrous dysplasia in a 14-year-old girl revealed multiple clonal structural rearrangements with evidence of clonal evolution. The karyotype was 46,XX,del(3)(q27),add(10)(q22),add(12)(p13)/46,idem,t(3;8)(p21;q13 ),add(10) (q26),der(15)del(15)del(15)(q15q22)ins(15;?) q15;?)/46,id em,-X,+2,t(3;8),add(10),der(15). The finding of clonal structural aberrations suggests that fibrous dysplasia is a neoplastic lesion which develops as the result of somatic mutations.

Congenital monostotic fibrous dysplasia--a new possibly autosomal recessive disorder

Two siblings, a 3-month-old white male infant and a 12-day-old female infant, had an anterior mandibular bony lesion that, in both cases, had been present at birth. After evaluation of clinical, physical, radiographic, laboratory, and histologic findings, a diagnosis of congenital monostotic fibrous dysplasia was made. Thorough review of the literature on fibrous dysplasia yielded no similar cases. The two cases presented appear to be the first reported examples of congenital monostotic fibrous dysplasia in siblings. The parents said there was no consanguinity. The possibility of a new autosomal-recessive disorder is likely.