Koepplin, Justin W.

Abstract Objectives Diagnosing adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) remains challenging due to its clinical and histopathologic heterogeneity. While HTLV-1 serology is a key diagnostic criterion, it is often unavailable at the time of diagnosis and does not confirm viral integration in tumor cells. The HTLV-1–encoded HBZ RNA is a reliable diagnostic biomarker for ATLL. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of RNAscope in situ hybridization (ISH) for HBZ RNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues to distinguish ATLL from other T-cell lymphomas. Methods HBZ ISH was evaluated in 72 cases, including 52 ATLLs and 20 non-ATLL T-cell lymphomas, to determine diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, interobserver agreement, interlaboratory reproducibility, and comparison with digital gene expression. Results This assay demonstrated 86.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity, with sensitivity improving to 97% when excluding bone marrow clot sections and FFPE blocks older than 5 years. Interobserver agreement among 3 pathologists was excellent (κ = 0.92, percent agreement: 94%). Interlaboratory reproducibility of HBZ ISH was high, with 93% to 95% concordance across these Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments–certified laboratories. HBZ RNA ISH–positive cases demonstrated significantly higher HBZ gene expression levels by digital gene expression profiling. Conclusions We established HBZ ISH as a reliable tissue-based surrogate for HTLV-1 infection in ATLL. This assay will enhance diagnostic accuracy, expedite definitive diagnosis, and improve patient selection for targeted therapies and clinical trials, particularly in regions with a high prevalence of HTLV-1.

e20646 Background: Thymic carcinomas tend to be aggressive malignancies with variable patterns of immunostaining. We aimed to assess whether the outcome of patients with thymic carcinomas was associated with immunoreactivity for conventional and emerging immunohistochemical markers of thymic carcinoma versus thymoma. Methods: Scoring of CD5, CD117, EZH2, POU2F3, BAP1, and MTAP immunohistochemistry on whole slide sections was compared to overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) for 36 thymic carcinoma patients, 28 of whom had complete tumor resection and 8 of whom had incomplete tumor resection. Results: Positive CD5 staining (defined as staining in ≥50% of tumor cells) was present in 13/36 cases (36%) and was significantly associated with longer OS (P = 0.005, hazard ratio = 0.18, CI 0.03-0.63) but not PFS (P = 0.14, hazard ratio = 0.48, CI 0.16-1.26), whereas the other markers were not significantly associated with OS or PFS. Positive CD5 staining remained significantly associated with OS in squamous cell carcinoma subgroup analysis (n = 23, HR = 0.17, CI 0.03-0.65, P = 0.009), patients who did not receive neo-adjuvant treatment (n = 24, HR = 0.21, CI 0.03-0.85, P = 0.03) and after adjusting for incomplete resection (HR = 0.20, CI0.03-0.73, P = 0.01), M1 stage (HR = 0.19, CI 0.03-0.71, P = 0.01) or neoadjuvant treatment (HR = 0.19, CI 0.03-0.71, P = 0.01) in bivariate models. Positive CD5 staining was also significantly associated with age ≥60 years, absence of neoadjuvant treatment, and positive POU2F3 staining. Conclusions: CD5 staining in ≥50% of tumor cells was significantly associated with longer OS for thymic carcinoma patients. Our study supports the notion that CD5 immunohistochemistry may have utility as a prognostic marker for thymic carcinomas.

AbstractIntroductionIn evaluating malignant pleural fluid cytology, metastatic adenocarcinomas and mesotheliomas are often differential diagnoses. GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) has historically been used to confirm metastatic breast carcinomas; however, GATA3 has low specificity if mesothelioma is included in differential diagnoses. Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1) protein is expressed in all types of breast carcinomas, with reported high specificity and sensitivity. We investigated the performance of TRPS1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) and compared it to GATA3 in pleural fluids diagnosed with metastatic breast carcinoma and mesothelioma.MethodsThirty‐six consecutive ThinPrep pleural fluids and 4 pleural fine needle aspirations (FNAs) with diagnoses of metastatic breast carcinoma (21) and mesothelioma (19) were retrieved, and IHC with TRPS1 and GATA3 was performed on all. Immunoreactivity scores for TRPS1 were calculated by multiplying percentage of immunoreactive cells by staining intensity. Immunoreactivity scores were negative if 0 or 1, low positive if 2, intermediate positive if 3 or 4, or high positive if 6 or 9. Nuclear immunoreactivity of ≥10% with at least moderate intensity was judged GATA3 positive.ResultsGATA3 showed immunoreactivity in all metastatic breast carcinomas and 84% of mesotheliomas. TRPS1 was immunoreactive in all breast carcinoma cases (18 with a score of 9 and 3 with a score of 6). TRPS1 showed low positivity in 5% of mesothelioma cases with all other cases being negative.ConclusionWhen cytomorphologic differential diagnoses of mesothelioma exist, TRPS1 is a more specific marker than GATA3 for confirmation of metastatic breast carcinoma in pleural fluid cytology.

Thymic carcinoma is an aggressive malignancy that can be challenging to distinguish from thymoma using histomorphology. We assessed two emerging markers for these entities, EZH2 and POU2F3, and compared them with conventional immunostains. Whole slide sections of 37 thymic carcinomas, 23 type A thymomas, 13 type B3 thymomas, and 8 micronodular thymomas with lymphoid stroma (MNTLS) were immunostained for EZH2, POU2F3, CD117, CD5, TdT, BAP1, and MTAP. POU2F3 (≥10% hotspot staining), CD117, and CD5 showed 100% specificity for thymic carcinoma versus thymoma with 51%, 86%, and 35% sensitivity, respectively, for thymic carcinoma. All POU2F3 positive cases were also positive for CD117. All thymic carcinomas showed >10% EZH2 staining. EZH2 (≥80% staining) had a sensitivity of 81% for thymic carcinoma and a specificity of 100% for thymic carcinoma versus type A thymoma and MNTLS but had poor specificity (46%) for thymic carcinoma versus B3 thymoma. Adding EZH2 to a panel of CD117, TdT, BAP1, and MTAP increased cases with informative results from 67/81 (83%) to 77/81 (95%). Overall, absent EZH2 staining may be useful for excluding thymic carcinoma, diffuse EZH2 staining may help to exclude type A thymoma and MNTLS, and ≥10% POU2F3 staining has excellent specificity for thymic carcinoma versus thymoma.

Context.— Small case series have evaluated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and/or RNA in situ hybridization (RNAish). Objective.— To compare droplet digital polymerase chain reaction, IHC, and RNAish to detect SARS-CoV-2 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue in a large series of lung specimens from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Design.— Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction and RNAish used commercially available probes; IHC used clone 1A9. Twenty-six autopsies of COVID-19 patients with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 62 lung specimens, 22 heart specimens, 2 brain specimens, and 1 liver, and 1 umbilical cord were included. Control cases included 9 autopsy lungs from patients with other infections/inflammation and virus-infected tissue or cell lines. Results.— Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction had the highest sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 (96%) when compared with IHC (31%) and RNAish (36%). All 3 tests had a specificity of 100%. Agreement between droplet digital polymerase chain reaction and IHC or RNAish was fair (κ = 0.23 and κ = 0.35, respectively). Agreement between IHC and in situ hybridization was substantial (κ = 0.75). Interobserver reliability was almost perfect for IHC (κ = 0.91) and fair to moderate for RNAish (κ = 0.38–0.59). Lung tissues from patients who died earlier after onset of symptoms revealed higher copy numbers by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (P = .03, Pearson correlation = −0.65) and were more likely to be positive by RNAish (P = .02) than lungs from patients who died later. We identified SARS-CoV-2 in hyaline membranes, in pneumocytes, and rarely in respiratory epithelium. Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction showed low copy numbers in 7 autopsy hearts from ProteoGenex Inc. All other extrapulmonary tissues were negative. Conclusions.— Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction was the most sensitive and highly specific test to identify SARS-CoV-2 in lung specimens from COVID-19 patients.