Immunohistochemical Expression of Tensin-4/CTEN in Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Dogs

Abstract

C-terminal tensin-like (tensin-4/TNS4/CTEN) is the fourth member of the tensin family, frequently described as displaying oncological functions, including cellular migration, invasion, adhesion, growth, metastasis, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and apoptosis, in several different types of cancer. To investigate, for the first time, the clinical significance of CTEN in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of dogs, we studied a total of 45 SCC sections from various dog breeds. The mean age of the affected dogs was 8.9 ± 3.6 years. Immunohistochemistry confirmed strong cytoplasmatic CTEN expression in the basal layer of the epidermis next to the tumor. We detected high CTEN expression associated with the highest grade of the tumor (grade III) and observed 100% of immunopositivity for this tumor grading (p < 0.0001). These data suggest that CTEN is an oncogene in SCC of dogs and a promising biomarker and a therapeutic target for dogs affected by SCC.

Investigating Cox-2 and EGFR as Biomarkers in Canine Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Implications for Diagnosis and Therapy

“…Nuclear pleomorphism was classified as I (minimal, >75% mature cells), II (moderate, 50-75% mature cells), or III (marked nuclear pleomorphism, <50% mature cells). Mitotic count was measured across ten high-power fields (HPF) and classified as I (0 to 1 mitosis/HPF), II (2 to 3 mitoses/HPF), or III (≥four mitoses/HPF) [32,33].…”

“…The stage of invasion was categorized as: I (corresponding to carcinoma in situ or questionable invasion), II (apparent invasion limited to the lamina propria), and III (invasion beyond the lamina propria, involving muscle. Lymphoplasmacytic infiltration was evaluated and categorized as I (marked), II (moderate), or III (mild to absent) [32,33].…”

“…The sum of these parameters was then used to classify the tumors into three grades: Grade I (scores 5-10) for well-differentiated tumors, Grade II (scores 11-15) for moderately differentiated tumors, and Grade III (scores > 16) for poorly differentiated tumors [32,33]. The presence or absence of emboli was also recorded.…”