Lacrimal gland ductal carcinomas: Clinical, Morphological and Genetic characterization and implications for targeted treatment

Abstract

This study identified a spectrum of genetic events and pattern of protein expression in DC of the lacrimal gland similar to a subset of carcinomas of the breast and ductal carcinomas of the salivary glands. For therapeutic purposes, aberrations in several components of especially the HER2 signalling pathway could alleviate the effect of HER2-directed therapy illustrating an inadequacy of isolated HER2 testing.

Adenoid cystic carcinomas of the salivary gland, lacrimal gland, and breast are morphologically and genetically similar but have distinct microRNA expression profiles

“…In the breast, adenoid cystic carcinoma is rare and belongs to the basal-like (estrogen receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative, CK5/6 and/or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positive) and triple-negative (negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2) subtypes [3]. The phenotypic classification of breast carcinoma (i.e., luminal, basal-like, and HER2 phenotypes) carries significant prognostic and therapeutic implications in breast cancer and has been shown to apply to at least a subset of salivary and lacrimal gland carcinomas [3][4][5][6]. The phenotypic profile of adenoid cystic carcinoma has not been characterized, which constitutes a significant gap in the context of phenotypic correlations between tumors of the salivary gland, lacrimal gland, and breast.…”

“…The occurrence of salivary-like carcinomas in the lacrimal gland and breast is well known and includes several entities besides adenoid cystic carcinoma, namely, acinic cell carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, secretory carcinoma, ductal carcinoma, and other more rare types, which collectively is highly suggestive of a common pathogenesis irrespective of site [5,[17][18][19]. Indeed, it is firmly established that histologically identical tumors are genetically similar in all three sites and that, despite the rarity of some type of salivary-like breast carcinomas, the aggressiveness is largely similar, with the notable exception of adenoid cystic carcinoma [5, 9-11, 15, 19-21].…”

An update on head and neck cancer: new entities and their histopathology, molecular background, treatment, and outcome

“…Through recent years, a network of fusion genes, hotspot mutations, and copy‐number alterations has been shown to underpin a large number of different tumor types, most of which have subsequently been identified in their histological counterparts in the breast and lacrimal gland (Table ; ). Most are known from cancers in other sites, but a few are found exclusively in specific types of salivary gland carcinomas.…”

“…Through recent years, a network of fusion genes, hotspot mutations, and copy-number alterations has been shown to underpin a large number of different tumor types, most of which have subsequently been identified in their histological counterparts in the breast and lacrimal gland ( Table 1; 8,9,[30][31][32][33][34].…”

Molecular features of adenoid cystic carcinoma with an emphasis on microRNAexpression

“…The proliferation marker ki-67 is positive in a variable proportion of tumor cells and is highest in ACC with solid histology (76) (35). The phenotypic classification of breast carcinoma (i.e., luminal, basallike, and HER2 phenotypes) carries significant prognostic and therapeutic implications and has been shown to apply to at least a subset of salivary and lacrimal gland carcinomas (35,(81)(82)(83). Interestingly, triple-negative breast carcinoma is generally regarded as a clinically aggressive group of malignancies, in sharp contrast to the case for breast ACC (84,85).…”