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Distribution of p63, cytokeratins 5/6 and cytokeratin 14 in 51 normal and 400 neoplastic human tissue samples using TARP-4 multi-tumor tissue microarray

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Abstract

p63, cytokeratin (CK) 5/6 and CK 14 have been employed in diagnostic pathology as markers of basal, squamous and myoepithelial differentiation in several types of human neoplasms; however, there is scant data on the concurrent expression of these markers in large series of human neoplasms. We analyzed the distribution of these three immunohistochemical markers in 51 normal human tissue samples, 350 carcinomas, 25 malignant melanomas (MMs), and 25 glioblastomas using three serial sections of tissue array research program (TARP)-4 multi-tumor tissue microarray. Also, we performed double immunostainings to characterize the differential distribution of p63/CK 5/6 and p63/CK 14 in normal breast, salivary gland and skin. p63, CK 5/6 and CK 14 were expressed in basal cells of the prostate and respiratory epithelia and in breast and bronchial myoepithelial cells. p63 was also expressed in cytotrophoblast cells of human placenta and in scattered cells of lymph node germinal center. CK 5/6 and CK 14 also stained the cytoplasm of basal cells of esophageal stratified squamous epithelium and transitional epithelial cells of the bladder. No mesenchymal, neural, endothelial, smooth muscle or adipose cells were stained by any of the markers. p63, CK 5/6, and CK 14 were respectively expressed in 92.6%, 75.0%, and 52.9% of the squamous cell carcinomas of the lung, 10.2%, 20.0%, and 7.4% of the ductal carcinomas of the breast, 12.9%, 34.4%, and 11.8% of the serous and 25.0%, 0%, and 0% of the endometrioid carcinomas of the ovary. Lung, prostate and colonic adenocarcinomas, as well as MMs and glioblastomas were only rarely decorated by one of the markers. Only matched samples of 16 squamous cell carcinomas and two ductal carcinomas of the breast co-expressed these three markers. In double immunostainings, p63-CK 5/6, as well as p63-CK 14 were co-expressed by basal/myoepithelial cells of the salivary glands and basal cells of the epidermis. Our results demonstrate that p63, CK 5/6 and CK 14 may be used together in immunohistochemical panels to characterize squamous differentiation in poorly differentiated carcinomas or carcinomas of unknown origin.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by a Ph.D. grant from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation [Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)—Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (MCT)—Portugal], reference SFRH/BD/5386/2001. Reis Filho J.S. is an FCT Ph.D. student and is the recipient of the Gordon Signy Foreign Fellowship Award, 2001, from the World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. The authors thank Dr. Andrew Folpe for his insightful comments on the manuscript and Mrs. Athely Guedes for preparing the manuscript for submission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Breakthrough Toby Robins Breast Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK

    Jorge S. Reis-Filho & Pete T. Simpson

  2. Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Jorge S. Reis-Filho & Albino Martins

  3. IPATIMUP – Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, R. Roberto Frias, S/N, 4200, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Preto, Fátima Gärtner & Fernando C. Schmitt

  4. Medical Faculty, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Fernando C. Schmitt

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  1. Jorge S. Reis-Filho
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Correspondence to Fernando C. Schmitt.

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Reis-Filho, J.S., Simpson, P.T., Martins, A. et al. Distribution of p63, cytokeratins 5/6 and cytokeratin 14 in 51 normal and 400 neoplastic human tissue samples using TARP-4 multi-tumor tissue microarray. Virchows Arch 443, 122–132 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-003-0859-2

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