Aims: Hepatic carcinosarcoma (HCS) is an aggressive tumor for which a consensus regarding the clonal origin has not yet been reached. The aim of the study was to identify the origin of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and sarcoma components in HCS.
Methods: We chose microsatellite technique containing loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI) on three HCS patients who underwent curative resection confirmed by pathological examination. Tumors were firstly analyzed for Hep Par 1, CK18, CD10, CD117, SMA and vimentin expression by immunohistochemistry. LOH and MSI were then investigated. The incidence rate of LOH/MSI in all nine MS was calculated as the fractional allelic loss (FAL) index, which was internationally recognized standard. A FAL<30% was representative of a monoclonal origin and a FAL≥30% indicated a polyclonal origin.
Results: All patients were positive for HBsAg. Microscopic examination showed HCS containing two different cell types: a fibrosarcoma component with spindle cells and an HCC population of cells with a trabecular pattern. In the HCC tumor portions, Hep Par 1, CK18, CD10 were expressed while vimentin was not. In contrast, the spindle cell populations were positive for vimentin and negative for Hep Par 1, CK18, CD10. The highest frequencies of LOH and MSI were at the D16S505 (2/3; 66.7%), D17S831 (2/3; 66.7%) and D17S938 MS (2/3; 66.7%). The FALs for the three cases of HCS were 50% (4/8), 55.6% (5/9) and 33.3% (3/9), suggesting a polyclonal origin.
Conclusions: Immunohistochemistry and analysis of LOH and MSI strongly demonstrated that the three HCS samples were consistent with a polyclonal origin for all three cases.
Keywords: Clonal origin; Hepatic carcinosarcoma; Loss of heterozygosity; Microsatellite; Microsatellite instability.
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