Hui Zhao1, Jianhua Chen1. 1. Department of Thoracic Medicine, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Hunan Cancer Hospital, Changsha 410006, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma, an uncommon epithelial tumor, is mostly originated form the nasopharynx and also occurs in foregut-derived organs, such as lung, stomach, salivary gland, and thymus. Primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (PPLELC) is a rare subtype accounting for around 0.9% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to evaluate clinicopathological features, treatment modalities, and prognosis of PPLELC. METHODS: In the current study, a retrospective analysis on 8 patients diagnosed with PPLELC at Hunan Cancer Hospital between October 2013 and June 2016 was conducted with respect to their clinical characteristics and outcomes, in order to deeply investigate this rare subtype of lung cancer. RESULTS: In all 8 patients, 62.5% (5/8) were female, and the median age was 51.5 years (range 41 years-64 years). The majority (87.5%) were never smokers and 50.0% were asymptomatic at diagnosis. About 37.5% presented with stage I disease, 50.0% had stage III disease and 12.5% had stage IV disease. Histologically, the tumor morphology was indistinguishable from undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx and were characterized by poorly differentiated tumor cells with large vesicular nuclei and prominent nucleoli showing syncytial growth patterns and accompanied by heavy lymphocytic infiltration. The tumor cells were presented as positive for P63 (100.0%, 6/6), CK5/6 (100.0%, 5/5), CK (100.0%, 5/5). The expression of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in 8 patients was detected. When membranous staining was present in ≥5% of the cells, it was defined as PD-L1 positive. The PD-L1 expression frequency was 50.0% (4/8), and the tumor proportion score (TPS) fluctuated between 20.0% and 70.0%. Epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) mutations were detected in 3 cases and all tested samples were wild type; moreover, ALK rearrangement was negative in 2 patients with available data. KRAS, B-raf, C-kit, HER2, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 were detected in 1 case. The results showed that KRAS was wild type, B-raf and C-kit mutation was negative, and HER2, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 were moderately expressed. All patients underwent surgery with or without adjuvant therapy. Among these patients, 5 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, including 2 patients with stage Ib disease, 2 patients with stage IIIa disease and 1 patient with stage IV disease. 1 patient with stage IIIa disease received adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy and 1 patient with stage IIIa disease received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. All patients survived until the deadline for follow-up. The median survival time of all LELC patients is 57 months. The 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of LELC patients were 87.5% and 50.0%, disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 87.5% and 50.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PPLELC is uncommon but distinct subtype of NSCLC with unique clinicopathologic characteristics that tends to affect young nonsmoking patients, without significant predilection for sex and with strong association with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Histology and immunohistochemistry are the main diagnostic methods. Rare or no driver gene mutations were found in the common oncogenes such as EGFR mutations and ALK gene rearrangement, implying that the mutagenesis of these genes was not involved in the tumorigenesis of PPLELC. PD-1 and PD-L1 may be potential therapeutic targets for PPLELC. The patients are diagnosed at an earlier stage and have a better prognosis than those with other non-small cell lung cancer. No standardized treatment regimens currently exist for this rare tumor. The mainstay of treatment for early-stage disease is curative surgical resection, whereas multimodality treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) has been adopted in advanced or metastatic diseases. Due to its low incidence, further research is needed to determine its biological characteristics and optimal treatment options.
BACKGROUND:Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma, an uncommon epithelial tumor, is mostly originated form the nasopharynx and also occurs in foregut-derived organs, such as lung, stomach, salivary gland, and thymus. Primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (PPLELC) is a rare subtype accounting for around 0.9% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to evaluate clinicopathological features, treatment modalities, and prognosis of PPLELC. METHODS: In the current study, a retrospective analysis on 8 patients diagnosed with PPLELC at Hunan Cancer Hospital between October 2013 and June 2016 was conducted with respect to their clinical characteristics and outcomes, in order to deeply investigate this rare subtype of lung cancer. RESULTS: In all 8 patients, 62.5% (5/8) were female, and the median age was 51.5 years (range 41 years-64 years). The majority (87.5%) were never smokers and 50.0% were asymptomatic at diagnosis. About 37.5% presented with stage I disease, 50.0% had stage III disease and 12.5% had stage IV disease. Histologically, the tumor morphology was indistinguishable from undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx and were characterized by poorly differentiated tumor cells with large vesicular nuclei and prominent nucleoli showing syncytial growth patterns and accompanied by heavy lymphocytic infiltration. The tumor cells were presented as positive for P63 (100.0%, 6/6), CK5/6 (100.0%, 5/5), CK (100.0%, 5/5). The expression of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in 8 patients was detected. When membranous staining was present in ≥5% of the cells, it was defined as PD-L1 positive. The PD-L1 expression frequency was 50.0% (4/8), and the tumor proportion score (TPS) fluctuated between 20.0% and 70.0%. Epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) mutations were detected in 3 cases and all tested samples were wild type; moreover, ALK rearrangement was negative in 2 patients with available data. KRAS, B-raf, C-kit, HER2, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 were detected in 1 case. The results showed that KRAS was wild type, B-raf and C-kit mutation was negative, and HER2, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 were moderately expressed. All patients underwent surgery with or without adjuvant therapy. Among these patients, 5 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, including 2 patients with stage Ib disease, 2 patients with stage IIIa disease and 1 patient with stage IV disease. 1 patient with stage IIIa disease received adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy and 1 patient with stage IIIa disease received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. All patients survived until the deadline for follow-up. The median survival time of all LELC patients is 57 months. The 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of LELC patients were 87.5% and 50.0%, disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 87.5% and 50.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS:PPLELC is uncommon but distinct subtype of NSCLC with unique clinicopathologic characteristics that tends to affect young nonsmoking patients, without significant predilection for sex and with strong association with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Histology and immunohistochemistry are the main diagnostic methods. Rare or no driver gene mutations were found in the common oncogenes such as EGFR mutations and ALK gene rearrangement, implying that the mutagenesis of these genes was not involved in the tumorigenesis of PPLELC. PD-1 and PD-L1 may be potential therapeutic targets for PPLELC. The patients are diagnosed at an earlier stage and have a better prognosis than those with other non-small cell lung cancer. No standardized treatment regimens currently exist for this rare tumor. The mainstay of treatment for early-stage disease is curative surgical resection, whereas multimodality treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) has been adopted in advanced or metastatic diseases. Due to its low incidence, further research is needed to determine its biological characteristics and optimal treatment options.
所有患者均进行了肺癌根治术+淋巴结清扫术,其中1例拟行右上肺癌根治术的患者因术中见肿瘤侵犯右上叶支气管及右中间支气管,并侵犯右上肺动脉干,无法分离出右上肺后段动脉,改行右全肺切除术;1例合并左下肺转移灶及心包组织受累的患者同时进行了左下肺部分切除+心包部分切除。术中发现胸腔粘连者5例,肿块侵犯脏层胸膜者1例,心包组织受累者1例,同侧不同肺叶(左下肺)转移灶者1例。在手术方式上,2例患者行电视辅助胸腔镜手术(video-assisted thoracic surgery, VATS),6例行开胸手术。所有患者手术切缘均为阴性。8例患者中,1例进行了新辅助化疗,分期为Ⅲa期,方案为吉西他滨+顺铂,2个周期;5例进行了术后辅助化疗,其中Ib期2例,Ⅲa期2例,Ⅳ期1例,均为含铂双联方案,联合吉西他滨2例,联合紫杉醇2例,联合培美曲塞1例;1例Ⅲa期患者进行了术后辅助放化疗,化疗方案为多西他赛+顺铂,疗程为6个周期。2例患者复发,1例患者在术后49个月(2019年6月)于外院复查发现了右纵隔淋巴结转移复发,复发分期是rT0N2M0,1例患者在术后17个月(2014年10月)发现了右胸膜转移,随后均进行积极的同步放射治疗+化疗,化疗方案分别为紫杉醇+铂类、长春瑞滨+铂类,目前维持治疗中,2例患者随访至截止日期均仍存活。PPLELC的影像学表现。A:左肺下叶软组织结节影,分叶状,边界较清晰,密度欠均,左侧少量胸腔积液;B:化疗后CT片,右肺门区类圆形肿块影,边界不清,密度欠均;C、D:右中肺分叶状团块状影,相对应的PET-CT;E、F:右中肺近肺门区肿块影,右中肺斑片状影,相对应的PET-CT;G、H:右侧胸膜多个软组织密度结节影,相对应的PET-CTImaging findings of PPLELC. A: A soft tissue nodule in the left lower lobe with lobular, clear boundary, inhomogeneous density and a limited amount of effusion in the left side of the chest; B: A round tumor in the right hilar area with unclear boundary and nonuniform density was demonstrated in the CT film after chemotherapy; C and D: An lobulated mass lesion in the right middle lobe of lung and the corresponding PET-CT; E and F: Mass shadow near hilum of right middle lung, patchy shadow of right middle lung and the corresponding PET-CT; G and H: Multiple soft tissue nodules were observed in the right side of the pleura and the corresponding PET-CT. PET-CT: positron emission tomography-computed tomography; PPLELC: primary pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomaPPLELC的免疫组织化学检查。A:免疫组织化学染色癌细胞CK5/6表达阳性(×200);B:免疫组织化学染色癌细胞P63表达阳性(×200);C:癌细胞体积大,胞质淡染或弱嗜酸性,核呈空泡状,核仁清晰(×400);D:癌细胞呈巢状分布,间质有丰富的淋巴细胞浸润(×200);E:PD-L1免疫组化染色呈膜阳性(TPS: 70%)(×200);F:PD-L1免疫组化染色呈膜阳性(TPS: 30%)(×200)Immunohistochemistry of PPLELC. A: Immunohistochemistry showing tumor cells positive for CK5/6 (×200); B: Immuno-histochemistry showing tumor cells positive for P63 (×200); C: The tumor cells are bulky, with light stained or weakly eosinophilic cytoplasm, vacuolated nuclei, and clear nucleoli; D: The distribution of carcinoma cells showed as nests with abundant lymphocyte infiltration in the stroma; E: Positive PD-L1 immunohistochemical staining with a membranous pattern (TPS: 70%) (×200); F: Positive PD-L1 immunohistochemical staining with a membranous pattern (TPS: 30%) (×200). PD-L1: programmed cell death ligand; TPS: tumor proportion score
Chen JH conceived and designed the study. Chen JH and Zhao H conducted the histological evaluation and immunohistochemical evaluation. Zhao H collected the data. Zhao H analyzed and interpretated the data. Zhao H drafted the manuscript. Chen JH reviewed and revised the manuscript. All the authors had access to the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript as submitted.
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8例患者临床资料
Clinical features of 8 patients
Case
Gender
Age (yr)
EBV serology
Tumor location
Tumor size (cm)
Invaded sites
Lymph node metastasis (group)
Stage
Treatment
OS (mo)
F: female; M: male; +: positive; -: negative; ND: not done; RUL: right upper lobe of lung; RML: right middle lobe of lung; RLL: right lower lobe of lung; LUL: left upper lobe of lung; LLL: left lower lobe of lung; Station 4: lower paratracheal nodes; Station 5: subaortic nodes (aorto-pulmonary window); Station 7: subcarinal nodes; Station 10: hilar nodes; Station 11: interlobar nodes; Station 12: lobar nodes; S: surgery; NCT: neoadjuvant chemotherapy; CT: chemotherapy; RT: radiotherapy; EBV: Epstein-Barr virus; OS: overall survival.
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