SDHB/SDHA immunohistochemistry in pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas: a multicenter interobserver variation analysis using virtual microscopy: a Multinational Study of the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors (ENS@T)

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Thomas G. Papathomas - , King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Lindsey Oudijk - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Alexandre Persu - , Université catholique de Louvain (Author)
  • Anthony J. Gill - , Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney (Author)
  • Francien van Nederveen - , Laboratory for Pathology Dordrecht (Author)
  • Arthur S. Tischler - , Tufts University, Tufts Medical Center (Author)
  • Frederique Tissier - , French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Sorbonne Université (Author)
  • Marco Volante - , University of Turin (Author)
  • Xavier Matias-Guiu - , University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (Author)
  • Marcel Smid - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Judith Favier - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Université Paris Cité (Author)
  • Elena Rapizzi - , University of Florence (Author)
  • Rosella Libe - , Université Paris 13 (Author)
  • Maria Curras-Freixes - , Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (Author)
  • Selda Aydin - , Université catholique de Louvain (Author)
  • Thanh Huynh - , National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Author)
  • Urs Lichtenauer - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Anouk van Berkel - , Radboud University Nijmegen (Author)
  • Letizia Canu - , University of Florence (Author)
  • Rita Domingues - , Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto) (Author)
  • Roderick J. Clifton-Bligh - , University of Sydney (Author)
  • Magdalena Bialas - , Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Author)
  • Miikka Vikkula - , Université catholique de Louvain (Author)
  • Gustavo Baretton - , Institute of Pathology (Author)
  • Mauro Papotti - , University of Turin (Author)
  • Gabriella Nesi - , University of Florence (Author)
  • Cecile Badoual - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Université Paris Cité (Author)
  • Karel Pacak - , National Institutes of Health (NIH) (Author)
  • Graeme Eisenhofer - , Department of Internal Medicine III, Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (Author)
  • Henri J. Timmers - , Radboud University Nijmegen (Author)
  • Felix Beuschlein - , Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (Author)
  • Jerome Bertherat - , French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Author)
  • Massimo Mannelli - , University of Florence (Author)
  • Mercedes Robledo - , CIBER - Center for Biomedical Research Network, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (Author)
  • Anne-Paule Gimenez-Roqueplo - , Université Paris Cité, INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Author)
  • Winand N. M. Dinjens - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Esther Korpershoek - , Erasmus University Rotterdam (Author)
  • Ronald R. de Krijger - , Erasmus University Rotterdam, Reinier de Graaf Groep, Utrecht University (Author)

Abstract

Despite the established role of SDHB/SDHA immunohistochemistry as a valuable tool to identify patients at risk for familial succinate dehydrogenase-related pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma syndromes, the reproducibility of the assessment methods has not as yet been determined. The aim of this study was to investigate interobserver variability among seven expert endocrine pathologists using a web-based virtual microscopy approach in a large multicenter pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma cohort (n=351): (1) 73 SDH mutated, (2) 105 non-SDH mutated, (3) 128 samples without identified SDH-x mutations, and (4) 45 with incomplete SDH molecular genetic analysis. Substantial agreement among all the reviewers was observed either with a two-tiered classification (SDHB kappa= 0.7338; SDHA kappa = 0.6707) or a three-tiered classification approach (SDHB kappa = 0.6543; SDHA kappa = 0.7516). Consensus was achieved in 315 cases (89.74%) for SDHB immunohistochemistry and in 348 cases (99.15%) for SDHA immunohistochemistry. Among the concordant cases, 62 of 69 (similar to 90%) SDHB-/C-/D-/AF2-mutated cases displayed SDHB immunonegativity and SDHA immunopositivity, 3 of 4 (75%) with SDHA mutations showed loss of SDHA/SDHB protein expression, whereas 98 of 105 (93%) non-SDH-x-mutated counterparts demonstrated retention of SDHA/SDHB protein expression. Two SDHD-mutated extra-adrenal paragangliomas were scored as SDHB immunopositive, whereas 9 of 128 (7%) tumors without identified SDH-x mutations, 6 of 37 (similar to 16%) VHL-mutated, as well as 1 of 21 (similar to 5%) NF1-mutated tumors were evaluated as SDHB immunonegative. Although 14 out of those 16 SDHB-immunonegative cases were nonmetastatic, an overall significant correlation between SDHB immunonegativity and malignancy was observed (P=0.00019). We conclude that SDHB/SDHA immunohistochemistry is a reliable tool to identify patients with SDH-x mutations with an additional value in the assessment of genetic variants of unknown significance. If SDH molecular genetic analysis fails to detect a mutation in SDHB-immunonegative tumor, SDHC promoter methylation and/or VHL/NF1 testing with the use of targeted next-generation sequencing is advisable.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)807-821
Number of pages15
JournalModern pathology
Volume28
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 25720320
Scopus 84930178967

Keywords

Keywords

  • Succinate-dehydrogenase deficiency, Renal-carcinoma, Sdha mutations, Germline mutations, Carney-stratakis, Gene-mutations, Identification, Inactivation, Expression, Specimens