Diagnostic utility and sensitivities of matrix Gla protein (MGP), TRPS1 and GATA3 in breast cancer: focusing on metastatic breast cancer, invasive breast carcinoma with special features, and salivary gland-type tumours

Yu Wu; Feng Chen; Lu Pan; Xue Chao; Mei Li; Rongzhen Luo; Keming Chen; Chengyou Zheng; Tian Du; Jiehua He; Peng Sun

doi:10.1016/j.pathol.2024.01.003

Diagnostic utility and sensitivities of matrix Gla protein (MGP), TRPS1 and GATA3 in breast cancer: focusing on metastatic breast cancer, invasive breast carcinoma with special features, and salivary gland-type tumours

Pathology. 2024 Mar 14:S0031-3025(24)00084-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2024.01.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yu Wu¹, Feng Chen¹, Lu Pan¹, Xue Chao¹, Mei Li¹, Rongzhen Luo¹, Keming Chen¹, Chengyou Zheng¹, Tian Du², Jiehua He³, Peng Sun⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Pathology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Breast Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: dutian@sysucc.org.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Pathology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: hejh@sysucc.org.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Pathology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: sunpeng1@sysucc.org.cn.

PMID: 38570266
DOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2024.01.003

Abstract

Matrix Gla protein (MGP) and trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1) have recently emerged as novel breast-specific immunohistochemical (IHC) markers, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and metaplastic carcinoma. The present study aimed to validate and compare the expression of MGP, TRPS1 and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC), invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) with special features, including special types of invasive breast carcinoma (IBC-STs) and invasive breast carcinoma of no special type with unique features, and mammary and non-mammary salivary gland-type tumours (SGTs). Among all enrolled cases, MGP, TRPS1 and GATA3 had comparable high positivity for ER/PR-positive (p=0.148) and HER2-positive (p=0.310) breast carcinoma (BC), while GATA3 positivity was significantly lower in TNBC (p<0.001). Similarly, the positive rates of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs (99.4%), were higher than in GATA3 (90.9%, p<0.001). Among the IBC-STs, 98.4% of invasive lobular carcinomas (ILCs) were positive for all three markers. Among neuroendocrine tumours (NTs), all cases were positive for TRPS1 and GATA3, while MGP positivity was relatively low (81.8%, p=0.313). In the neuroendocrine carcinoma (NC) subgroup, all cases were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while one case was negative for TRPS1. All carcinomas with apocrine differentiation (APOs) were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while only 60% of the cases demonstrated moderate staining for TRPS1. Among mammary SGTs, MGP demonstrated the highest positivity (100%), followed by TRPS1 (96.0%) and GATA3 (72.0%). Positive staining for these markers was also frequently observed in non-mammary SGTs. Our findings further validate the high sensitivity of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs, IBC-STs, and breast SGTs. However, none of these markers are capable of distinguishing between mammary and non-mammary SGTs.

Keywords: Matrix Gla protein (MGP); immunohistochemical staining; invasive breast carcinoma with special features; metastatic breast cancer; salivary gland-type tumour; trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1).