ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Salivary duct carcinoma: immunohistochemical profile of an aggressive salivary gland tumour

A Etges¹, D S Pinto, Jr², L P Kowalski³, F A Soares⁴ and V C Araújo²

¹ Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas/UFP, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sol, Brazil, CEP 96015
² Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo/USP, Säo Paulo, Brazil, CEP 1509-900
³ Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology Department, Cancer Hospital AC Camargo, São Paulo, Brazil, 01509010
⁴ Pathology Department, Cancer Hospital A. C. Camargo, São Paulo, Brazil

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr V C de Araújo
Faculdade de Odontologia da Universidade de São Paulo/USP, São Paulo, Avenida Prof. Lineu de Azevedo Prestes, 2227, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, Brasil, CEP: 01509-900; vcaraujo{at}usp.br

Background: Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is considered to be a distinct malignancy of the major salivary glands, because of its highly aggressive behaviour, and the high rate of recurrence, metastasis, and disease related death.

Aims: To investigate expression of the proteins involved in the retinoblastoma (pRb) and p53 pathways, which control cell cycle progression at the G1/S checkpoint, and also expression of the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in SDCs.

Methods: Using a streptavidin–biotin method, five cases of SDC were evaluated immunohistochemically for the presence of cyclin D1, CDK4 (cyclin dependent kinase 4), p16 (CDK2A), pRb (retinoblastoma protein), E2F-1, p53, mdm2 (murine double minute 2), bcl-2, and the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein to determine whether there was a correlation between the expression of these proteins and patient outcome.

Results: All of the cases showed deregulation of the pRb and p53 pathways. Of the five patients analysed, only the patient with longterm survival (10 years) was not positive for c-erbB-2 expression.

Conclusions: c-erbB-2 overexpression was associated with a poor prognosis. Aggressive behaviour, recurrence, and metastatic potential do not appear to be related to cell cycle deregulation, but seem to be associated with the c-erbB-2 oncoprotein, which is involved in matrix degradation and proteolitic activity, in addition to increases in vessel permeability, endothelial cell growth, proliferation, migration, and differentiation. There was a correlation between c-erbB-2 oncoprotein expression and aggressive behaviour in SDCs.

Keywords: cell cycle; retinoblastoma protein; c-erbB-2; salivary duct carcinoma; salivary gland tumour

Abbreviations: CDK, cyclin dependent kinase; mdm2, murine double minute 2; pRB, retinoblastoma protein; SGT, salivary gland tumour

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