Histomolecular profiling of pleomorphic, spindle cell, and giant cell carcinoma of the lung for targeted therapies

SummaryIn pleomorphic, spindle cell, and giant cell carcinoma (PSCGC) of the lung, we wondered if an integrated diagnosis including morphological and immunohistochemical features could be related to molecular status. We performed immunohistochemistry on 35 PSCGCs against TTF1, napsin A, p40, ALK, ROS1, and c-MET. Mutational status regarding EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, HER2, and PIK3CA genes was established. Of 18 PSCGCs with adenocarcinomatous or “undifferentiated” carcinoma differentiation, 8 were mutated for EGFR (n = 1), KRAS (n = 2), BRAF (n = 1), HER2 (n = 3), and PIK3CA (n = 1). No PSCGC (0/4) with only squamous cell or adenosquamous (0/2) differentiation was mutated. c-MET overexpression was only seen in PSCGC with adenocarcinomatous or undifferentiated component (n = 5) without squamous cell component. ROS1 and ALK were negative. The presence of a “targetable mutation” was correlated to the presence of morphological or immunohistochemical adenocarcinomatous differentiation (P = .0137). Integrated diagnosis of an adenocarcinomatous component in PSCGC could be associated with the presence of targetable gene mutation. Because only PSCGC with adenocarcinomatous or undifferentiated carcinoma harbors mutations, whereas PSCGC with only squamous or adenosquamous differentiation does not in our study, this might represent a prescreening for patients with PSCGC to be tested for molecular targets. Our results emphasize that careful morphological examination and the use of immunohistochemistry might be useful for the selection of PSCGC tested for a mutational target.