ORIGINAL ARTICLE

FAT, E-cadherin, ß catenin, HER 2/neu, Ki67 immunoexpression, and histological grade in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

J Settakorn¹, N Kaewpila², G F Burns³ and A S-Y Leong⁴

¹ Hunter Area Pathology Service, Locked Bag 1, HRMC, Newcastle, Australia 2310
² Hunter Area Pathology Service, Newcastle, Australia
³ Cancer Research Unit, University of Newcastle, Australia
⁴ Hunter Area Pathology Service

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor A S-Y Leong
Hunter Area Pathology Service, Locked Bag 1, HRMC, Newcastle, Australia 2310; aleong{at}mail.newcastle.edu.au

Aim: To identify surrogate prognostic markers in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC).

Methods: Thirty one cases of IHCC were graded and immunostained for FAT, Ki67, E-cadherin, ß catenin, and HER 2/neu.

Results: Twenty two cases were high grade and 27 had high Ki67 counts. Strong membranous staining of HER 2/neu was found in 10 tumours and reduced membranous E-cadherin and ß catenin in 19 and 18 tumours, respectively. Nuclear localisation of ß catenin was identified in five tumours and 22 showed weak cytoplasmic staining of FAT. Strong HER 2/neu and weak FAT immunoexpression were significantly correlated with high histological grade (p = 0.01) and high Ki67 index (p = 0.03). Upregulation of HER 2/neu was also significantly associated with nuclear localisation of ß catenin (p = 0.01). Reduced membranous ß catenin was significantly related to reduced membranous E-cadherin (p = 0.03), weak staining for FAT (p = 0.01), and nuclear translocation of ß catenin (p = 0.04).

Conclusions: Reduced immunoexpression of E-cadherin and FAT at their normal membranous location may be potential prognostic markers, and the overexpression of HER 2/neu and ß catenin nuclear translocation may have a role in cholangiocarcinogenesis.

Abbreviations: IHCC, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Keywords: Ki67 index; histological grade; HER 2/neu; E-cadherin; ßcatenin; FAT; prognosis; immunohistochemistry

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