Immunohistochemical Analysis of Various Salivary Gland Carcinomas Focusing on the Possibility of Molecular-targeted and Hormonal Therapy

Abstract

: This study aimed to determine the expression of c-kit, human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 HER2 , insulin-like growth factor receptor IGFR , estrogen receptor ER , progesterone receptor PgR , vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF , c-MET, and survivin in adenoid cystic carcinomas ACC , carcinomas ex pleomorphic adenomas CXPA , and mucoepidermoid carcinomas MEC of the salivary glands. These expression levels and locations were compared to estimate the availability of molecular and hormonal targets for therapy in salivary gland carcinomas. Forty patients with a salivary gland carcinoma, diagnosed and treated at our hospital, were studied. On the basis of histopathology, 13, 12, and 15 patients were diagnosed with ACC, CXPA, and MEC, respectively. Associations between histological types were evaluated by Fisher s exact test, with a significance level of P 0.05. Compared with the other two histological types, ACC samples demonstrated significantly higher c-kit 85 , IGFR 77 , and ER 38 expression, while CXPA demonstrated significant HER2 75 staining, and MEC demonstrated significant IGFR 77 staining. The differences in expression of the tested markers among the histological types in our study suggested that c-kit-and IGFR-targeted therapy and anti-estrogen treatment could be effective in ACC, HER2-targeted therapy could be effective in CXPA, and that IGFR-target therapy could be effective in MEC of the salivary glands.

Malignant salivary gland tumors: A short review

“…Their results showed that ACC demonstrated significantly higher c-kit (85%); IGFR (77%); ER (38%) expression, on the other hand, CXPA demonstrated significant HER2 (75%) staining, while MEC showed significant IGFR (77%) staining. Thus, they suggest that these findings could be target therapy for these subtype of MSGT [38].…”