EpCAM Expression in Lymph Node and Bone Metastases of Prostate Carcinoma: A Pilot Study

Abstract

There is an urgent need for new imaging modalities in prostate carcinoma staging. A non-invasive modality that can assess lymph node and bone metastases simultaneously is preferred. Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a membranous protein of interest as an imaging target since it is overexpressed in prostatic carcinoma compared with benign prostate epithelium and compared with stroma. However, EpCAM expression in lymph node metastases is sparsely available in the literature and EpCAM expression in bone metastases is yet unknown. The current study evaluates the expression of EpCAM in prostate carcinoma lymph nodes, in matched normal lymph nodes, in prostate carcinoma bone metastases, and in normal bone by immunohistochemistry. EpCAM was expressed in 100% of lymph node metastases (21 out of 21), in 0% of normal lymph nodes (0 out of 21), in 95% of bone metastases (19 out of 20), and in 0% of normal bone (0 out of 14). Based on these results, EpCAM may be a feasible imaging target in prostate carcinoma lymph node and bone metastases. Prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm current results. Preoperative visualization of prostate carcinoma metastases will improve disease staging and will prevent unnecessary invasive surgery.

A meta-analysis and The Cancer Genome Atlas data of prostate cancer risk and prognosis using epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) expression

“…Based on the selection criteria, seven studies were finally selected; in these studies, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to determine EpCAM expression in patients with PCa [22, 23, 27, 33–36], (PCa tissue samples, n = 671; normal prostatic tissue samples, n = 30; benign prostatic tissue samples, n = 170). Four studies involving 536 patients with PCa reported data related to EpCAM expression and clinicopathological characteristics [27, 33, 34, 36]. One study reported the prognostic information using multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis in patients with PCa.…”

Advances in Biomarkers for PCa Diagnostics and Prognostics—A Way towards Personalized Medicine

“…Campos et al [ 32 ] investigated in a pilot study the expression of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) in PCa lymph nodes and matched normal lymph nodes, in PCa bone metastases, and in normal bone by immunohistochemistry. EpCAM was expressed in 100% of lymph node metastases ( n = 21), in 0% of normal lymph nodes (0 out of 21), in 95% of bone metastases (19 out of 20), and in 0% of normal bone (0 out of 14) [ 32 ]. Based on these results, EpCAM may be a feasible imaging target in PCa lymph node and bone metastases [ 32 ].…”

“…EpCAM was expressed in 100% of lymph node metastases ( n = 21), in 0% of normal lymph nodes (0 out of 21), in 95% of bone metastases (19 out of 20), and in 0% of normal bone (0 out of 14) [ 32 ]. Based on these results, EpCAM may be a feasible imaging target in PCa lymph node and bone metastases [ 32 ]. If prospective trials can confirm these promising results, EpCAM may help to improve pretherapeutical staging and to detect possible micro metastasis.…”

“…Two of the four reviews further summarize biomarkers for PCa diagnostic [ 27 ] or active surveillance [ 28 ] while the other two reviews have special topics like nanoparticles as theranostic vehicles [ 29 ] or PCa stem cells [ 30 ]. Four working groups published results by using immunohistochemistry in prostate, lymph node or bone tissue [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. This Special Issue also covered studies on seminal plasma biomarkers [ 35 ], improved PET contrast between osteolytic and osteoblastic bone metastatic lesions with fasting [ 36 ] and the impact of the blood collection tube and storage time on CTC-mRNA (AR-V7) analysis [ 37 ].…”

EpCAM Expression in Lymph Node Metastases of Urothelial Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder: A Pilot Study

“…Because of the wide variance of EpCAM expression in the primary tumor, the expression of EpCAM in lymph node metastases of urothelial cell bladder cancer has not been determined yet, as far as we know. Previously, EpCAM expression was highly found in lymph node metastases of prostate cancer [ 15 , 16 ] and lymph node metastases of urothelial carcinomas of the renal pelvis [ 17 ].…”