Pathogenetic and Prognostic Importance of Cyclin D1, Estrogen Receptor, and TAG72 in Cutaneous Vascular Tumors and Pericytic Tumors

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims to investigate the presence of pericyte loss in malignant vascular tumors and investigate the expression of cell cycle regulators, cyclin D1 and estrogen receptor (ER), and tumor-associated glycoprotein 72 (TAG72) in tumor cells and tumor microenvironment in benign/malignant vascular tumors and benign/malignant pericytic tumors. Methods: Cyclin D1, ER, and TAG72 were examined by immunohistochemistry in 38 cases of tumors of vascular and pericytic origins. The data on metastasis and prognosis of malignant cases were retrieved from the hospital information system. Results: The 38 patients included the following types of neoplasms: hemangioma (n=16), glomus tumor (n=9), epithelioid angiosarcoma (n=8), epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (n=3), infantile hemangiopericytoma (n=1), and malignant glomus tumor (n=1). No statistically significant difference was found in cyclin D1 expression between pericyte-derived tumors and malignant vascular tumors (p=0.508). When benign-malignant vascular and pericytic tumors were compared, no statistically significant difference was found in cyclin D1 expression between the 4 groups (p=0.465). No statistically significant difference was observed in staining between tumors of vascular and pericytic origin (p=0.104). ER expression was detected in only one case of malignant glomus tumor. TAG72 expression was not observed in any of the cases. Conclusion: The present study supports the notion that cyclin D1 may be present as a driver mutation in this group of tumors. The findings of this study did not produce any data to support the hypothesis claiming that pericyte loss led to malignancy. We believe that our results on the comparison of cell cycle protein expressions in cutaneous vascular and pericytic tumors shed light for future studies to elucidate the pathogenesis of this group of rare tumors.