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. 2024 Mar 3;4(2):204-208.
doi: 10.21873/cdp.10309. eCollection 2024 Mar-Apr.

A Case of Aggressive Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma With Aberrant Cytoplasmic p53 Aggregation

Hiroyuki Yamada  1   2 , Rin Yamada  2 , Yoshihiro Komohara  2 , Remi Mito  3 , Kazuchika Nishitsuji  4 , Hiromu Yano  2 , Yukio Fujiwara  2 , Koei Ikeda  1 , Makoto Suzuki  1
Affiliations

A Case of Aggressive Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma With Aberrant Cytoplasmic p53 Aggregation

Hiroyuki Yamada et al. Cancer Diagn Progn. .

Abstract

Background: Immunohistochemistry for p53 was a well-established method for cancer diagnosis in pathology. Aberrant cytoplasmic p53 positivity reflects the accumulation of p53 aggregates, which has been shown to be associated with chemoresistance and to be a predictive marker of a worse clinical course in ovarian cancer.

Case report: A 65-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed with lung cancer, and surgical resection was performed. Multiple metastasis were found 21 months post-surgery. The lesions were resistant to chemotherapy, and he succumbed to the disease 29 months post-surgery. The resected primary lesion was pathologically diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma, with notable cytoplasmic p53 positivity indicated by immunohistochemistry.

Conclusion: Notable aberrant cytoplasmic accumulation of p53 aggregate was observed in the cancer cells of this case. Chemotherapy was ineffective for the recurrent lesions, suggesting a role of p53 aggregates in chemoresistance. Pathological analysis of p53 via immunohistochemistry may be useful in predicting chemoresistance of lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Keywords: Lung; aggressive; p53 aggregation; squamous cell carcinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

All Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Radiological and pathological observations. A) Computed tomography scans revealed a mass in the upper lobe of the right lung. B) Macroscopic observation revealed the mass was well-circumscribed, white, and exhibited areas of necrosis. C) Hematoxylin and eosin staining shows that the lung lesion is composed of polygonal cancer cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm. D) Immunohistochemically, the cancer cells were focally positive for p40 (clone BC28, Nichirei, Tokyo, Japan) and CK5/6 (clone D5/16 B4, Nichirei). Scale bars: 20 μm.
Figure 2
Figure 2. p53 protein expression analyses. A) Immunohistochemistry of p53 was performed using three monoclonal antibodies (clone DO1 and DO7, DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark; clone E26, Abcam, Cambridge, UK), and the same observations were obtained. B) The PROTEOSTAT Protein aggregation assay was performed on a paraffin section. Scale bars: 20 μm.
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