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Inconsistent results in the analysis of ALK rearrangements in non-small cell lung cancer

Mattsson, Johanna S M ; Brunnström, Hans LU orcid ; Jabs, Verena ; Edlund, Karolina ; Jirström, Karin LU orcid ; Mindus, Stephanie ; la Fleur, Linnéa ; Pontén, Fredrik LU ; Karlsson, Mats G. and Karlsson, Christina , et al. (2016) In BMC Cancer 16(1).
Abstract

Background: Identification of targetable EML4-ALK fusion proteins has revolutionized the treatment of a minor subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is regarded as the gold standard for detection of ALK rearrangements, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) is often used as screening tool in clinical practice. In order to unbiasedly analyze the diagnostic impact of such a screening strategy, we compared ALK IHC with ALK FISH in three large representative Swedish NSCLC cohorts incorporating clinical parameters and gene expression data. Methods: ALK rearrangements were detected using FISH on tissue microarrays (TMAs), including tissue from 851 NSCLC patients. In parallel, ALK... (More)

Background: Identification of targetable EML4-ALK fusion proteins has revolutionized the treatment of a minor subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is regarded as the gold standard for detection of ALK rearrangements, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) is often used as screening tool in clinical practice. In order to unbiasedly analyze the diagnostic impact of such a screening strategy, we compared ALK IHC with ALK FISH in three large representative Swedish NSCLC cohorts incorporating clinical parameters and gene expression data. Methods: ALK rearrangements were detected using FISH on tissue microarrays (TMAs), including tissue from 851 NSCLC patients. In parallel, ALK protein expression was detected using IHC, applying the antibody clone D5F3 with two different protocols (the FDA approved Ventana CDx assay and our in house Dako IHC protocol). Gene expression microarray data (Affymetrix) was available for 194 patients. Results: ALK rearrangements were detected in 1.7 % in the complete cohort and 2.0 % in the non-squamous cell carcinoma subgroup. ALK protein expression was observed in 1.8 and 1.4 % when applying the Ventana assay or the in house Dako protocol, respectively. The specificity and accuracy of IHC was high (>98 %), while the sensitivity was between 69 % (Ventana) and 62 % (in house Dako protocol). Furthermore, only 67 % of the ALK IHC positive cases were positive with both IHC assays. Gene expression analysis revealed that 6/194 (3 %) tumors showed high ALK gene expression (≥6 AU) and of them only three were positive by either FISH or IHC. Conclusion: The overall frequency of ALK rearrangements based on FISH was lower than previously reported. The sensitivity of both IHC assays was low, and the concordance between the FISH and the IHC assays poor, questioning current strategies to screen with IHC prior to FISH or completely replace FISH by IHC.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
BMC Cancer
volume
16
issue
1
article number
603
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:27495736
  • wos:000381219600002
  • scopus:84988354659
ISSN
1471-2407
DOI
10.1186/s12885-016-2646-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fca806a9-32f5-40eb-b1d2-07457ccae1a1
date added to LUP
2016-12-29 12:59:55
date last changed
2024-06-28 22:32:16
@article{fca806a9-32f5-40eb-b1d2-07457ccae1a1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Identification of targetable EML4-ALK fusion proteins has revolutionized the treatment of a minor subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is regarded as the gold standard for detection of ALK rearrangements, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC) is often used as screening tool in clinical practice. In order to unbiasedly analyze the diagnostic impact of such a screening strategy, we compared ALK IHC with ALK FISH in three large representative Swedish NSCLC cohorts incorporating clinical parameters and gene expression data. Methods: ALK rearrangements were detected using FISH on tissue microarrays (TMAs), including tissue from 851 NSCLC patients. In parallel, ALK protein expression was detected using IHC, applying the antibody clone D5F3 with two different protocols (the FDA approved Ventana CDx assay and our in house Dako IHC protocol). Gene expression microarray data (Affymetrix) was available for 194 patients. Results: ALK rearrangements were detected in 1.7 % in the complete cohort and 2.0 % in the non-squamous cell carcinoma subgroup. ALK protein expression was observed in 1.8 and 1.4 % when applying the Ventana assay or the in house Dako protocol, respectively. The specificity and accuracy of IHC was high (&gt;98 %), while the sensitivity was between 69 % (Ventana) and 62 % (in house Dako protocol). Furthermore, only 67 % of the ALK IHC positive cases were positive with both IHC assays. Gene expression analysis revealed that 6/194 (3 %) tumors showed high ALK gene expression (≥6 AU) and of them only three were positive by either FISH or IHC. Conclusion: The overall frequency of ALK rearrangements based on FISH was lower than previously reported. The sensitivity of both IHC assays was low, and the concordance between the FISH and the IHC assays poor, questioning current strategies to screen with IHC prior to FISH or completely replace FISH by IHC.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mattsson, Johanna S M and Brunnström, Hans and Jabs, Verena and Edlund, Karolina and Jirström, Karin and Mindus, Stephanie and la Fleur, Linnéa and Pontén, Fredrik and Karlsson, Mats G. and Karlsson, Christina and Koyi, Hirsh and Brandén, Eva and Botling, Johan and Helenius, Gisela and Micke, Patrick and Svensson, Maria A.}},
  issn         = {{1471-2407}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Cancer}},
  title        = {{Inconsistent results in the analysis of ALK rearrangements in non-small cell lung cancer}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12885-016-2646-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12885-016-2646-x}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}