Twist expression in pleomorphic adenoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma of salivary glands

Abstract

Objective: Twist is an important transcription factor that induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition and therefore plays an important role in tumor progression. There are a few studies on Twist expression in salivary gland carcinomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the expression of Twist in the most common benign and malignant salivary gland tumors and to determine whether its expression was correlated with any tumor characteristics.Material and Method: in this retrospective cross-sectional study, 45 cases including 11 cases of normal salivary gland, 12 pleomorphic adenomas, 12 adenoid cystic carcinomas and 10 mucoepidermoid carcinomas were enrolled. The mean and intensity of Twist expression were evaluated immunohistochemically and were compared using statistical analysis. Results:The expression of Twist was higher in malignant salivary gland tumors in comparison with normal glands and benign tumors (p= 0.03). it was also higher in pleomorphic adenomas in comparison with normal tissue. adenoid cystic carcinomas and mucoepidermoid carcinomas showed no significant difference in Twist expression (p= 0.50). There was no correlation with the size, stage or grade of tumor. Conclusion:The findings showed that Twist might play a role in the formation of salivary gland neoplasm and also may affect malignant transformation and tumoral invasion. The exact mechanism of this marker and the possibility of using it as a therapeutic target require further investigation.

The immunophenotype of epithelial to mesenchymal transition inducing transcription factors in salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinomas

“…Zhou et al (2012) observed that overexpression of Twist induces EMT-like transformation of the metastatic cell lines of human SACC, with enhancing the migration and invasion abilities of these cells [ 32 ]. Pardis et al (2016) recorded a high Twist expression in malignant salivary gland tumors, including ACC compared to normal glands and benign tumors, but they did not find any correlation with the size, stage or grade of tumor [ 33 ]. However, the authors proved the existence of a relationship between nuclear Twist expression and increasing tumor invasiveness in SACC, confirming the invasive behavior of these tumors.…”

The role of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in diseases of the salivary glands

“…One study, recently, reported that Twist expression contributed to the invasiveness of salivary SACC (Shen et al 2010) and Twist may also be linked to perineural tumor invasiveness (Zhou et al 2012). High levels of Twist were shown also in MEC, confirming the emerging role of this protein in carcinogenesis of the salivary glands and also in malignant transformation and tumor invasiveness (Pardis et al 2016).…”

Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Salivary Glands and Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition

“…The occurrence of EMT within PA has been demonstrated by immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses [ 48 , 58 , 59 ], but no specific TFs have been identified. To our knowledge, only four studies have investigated the expression of EMT-TFs in PAs through the examination of TWIST or SLUG expression by immunohistochemical or reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT–qPCR) analysis [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ].…”

“…Pardis et al [ 60 ] reported observing TWIST expression in 12 cases of PA, predominantly with a cytoplasmic pattern and moderate intensity, evaluated immunohistochemically. Furthermore, Yuen et al [ 64 ] reported that the cytoplasmic expression of TWIST was associated with neoplastic transformation in prostate tissues.…”

“…In agreement with Pardis et al, Shen et al [ 62 ] identified the overexpression of TWIST in 30% of PAs, which had only previously been demonstrated in some benign and malignant tumors. TWIST had been observed in the parenchymal cells of benign tumors of the prostate, parathyroid, and lung and precancerous lesions of the oral cavity [ 60 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ].…”