Spatial and phenotypic characterization of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts after neoadjuvant treatment.

Spatial and phenotypic characterization of pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblasts after neoadjuvant treatment. Histol Histopathol. 2020 Jan 21;:18201 Authors: Nielsen MFB, Mortensen MB, Sørensen MD, Wirenfeldt M, Kristensen BW, Schrøder HD, Pfeiffer P, Detlefsen S Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PC) is characterized by a highly fibrotic desmoplastic stroma. Subtypes of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have been identified in chemotherapy-naïve PC (CTN-PC), but their precise functions are still unclear. Our knowledge regarding the properties of CAFs in the regressive stroma after neoadjuvant treatment (NAT) of PC (NAT-PC) is particularly limited. We aimed to examine the marker phenotypic properties of CAFs in the regressive stroma of PC. Surgical specimens from patients with CTN-PC (n=10) and NAT-PC (n=10) were included. Juxtatumoural, peripheral, lobular, septal, peripancreatic, and regressive stromal compartments were manually outlined using digital imaging analysis (DIA) for area quantification. The compartment-specific expression of CD271, cytoglobin, DOG-1, miR-21, osteonectin, PDGF-Rβ, and tenascin C was evaluated by immunohistochemistry or in situ hybridization, using manual scoring and automated DIA. The area fraction of the regressive stroma was significantly higher in NAT-PC than in CTN-PC (P=0.0002). CD271 (P<0.01), cytoglobin (P<0.05), DOG1 (P<0.05), miR-21 (P<0.05), and tenascin C (P<0....
Source: Histology and Histopathology - Category: Cytology Tags: Histol Histopathol Source Type: research