CD99 immunoreactivity in atypical fibroxanthoma and pleomorphic malignant fibrous histiocytoma: a useful diagnostic marker

Abstract

Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX), a benign lesion, and pleomorphic malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) are thought to represent points along the same neoplastic spectrum but with different prognoses and treatments. Diagnosis based on histology and clinical parameters alone is sometimes difficult, and a reliable cost-effective immunohistochemical marker to help distinguish these lesions would be beneficial. The diagnosis of AFX or MFH was based upon published clinical and microscopic criteria. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of 17 cases of AFX and 26 cases of MFH were immunostained with monoclonal antibody to CD99. For all cases, CD99 expression was scored on a four-tiered scale: negative, weak (1+), moderate (2+), or strong (3+). Two pathologists blinded to tumor diagnoses and type of immunostain evaluated each case independently. The interobserver correlation coefficient was calculated. Seventeen patients with AFX (16 males and one female; mean age = 79) and 26 patients with MFH (16 males and 10 females; mean age = 60) were included. AFX lesions were from the head and the face, mean size = 1.5 cm, and MFH lesions were from the head, the neck, the trunk, and the upper/lower extremities, mean size = 5.2 cm. The 17 cases of AFX demonstrated moderate or strong (2 to 3+) immunoreactivity with CD99, compared to nine of 26 (35%) MFH cases (chi-square = 18.38; p < 0.001; interobserver correlation coefficient = 0.83). Of these, 16 of 17 (94%) AFX cases stained diffusely with CD99, while only four of 26 (15%) MFH cases stained diffusely. Control slides were adequate. Our study demonstrated that CD99 can help distinguish AFX from MFH, in addition to other immunohistochemistry as well as clinical and histologic criteria.