ETV transcriptional upregulation is more reliable than RNA sequencing algorithms and FISH in diagnosing round cell sarcomas with CIC gene rearrangements Journal Article


Authors: Kao, Y. C.; Sung, Y. S.; Chen, C. L.; Zhang, L.; Dickson, B. C.; Swanson, D.; Vaiyapuri, S.; Latif, F.; Alholle, A.; Huang, S. C.; Hornick, J. L.; Antonescu, C. R.
Article Title: ETV transcriptional upregulation is more reliable than RNA sequencing algorithms and FISH in diagnosing round cell sarcomas with CIC gene rearrangements
Abstract: CIC rearrangements have been reported in two-thirds of EWSR1-negative small blue round cell tumors (SBRCTs). However, a number of SBRCTs remain unclassified despite exhaustive analysis. Fourteen SBRCTs lacking driver genetic events by RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis were collected. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering was performed using samples from our RNAseq database, including 13 SBRCTs with non-CIC genetic abnormalities and 2 CIC-rearranged angiosarcomas among others. Remarkably, all 14 study cases showed high mRNA levels of ETV1/4/5, and by unsupervised clustering most grouped into a distinct cluster, separate from other tumors. Based on these results indicating a close relationship with CIC-rearranged tumors, we manually inspected CIC reads in RNAseq data. FISH for CIC and DUX4 abnormalities and immunohistochemical stains for ETV4 were also performed. In the control group, only 2 CIC-rearranged angiosarcomas had high ETV1/4/5 expression. Upon manual inspection of CIC traces, 7 of 14 cases showed CIC-DUX4 fusion reads, 2 cases had DUX4-CIC reads, while the remaining 5 were negative. FISH showed CIC break-apart in 7 cases, including 5 cases lacking CIC-DUX4 or DUX4-CIC fusion reads on RNAseq manual inspection. However, no CIC abnormalities were detected by FISH in 6 cases with CIC-DUX4 or DUX4-CIC reads. ETV4 immunoreactivity was positive in 7 of 11 cases. Our results highlight the underperformance of FISH and RNAseq methods in diagnosing SBRCTs with CIC gene abnormalities. The downstream ETV1/4/5 transcriptional up-regulation appears highly sensitive and specific and can be used as a reliable molecular signature and diagnostic method for CIC fusion positive SBRCTs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Journal Title: Genes Chromosomes and Cancer
Volume: 56
Issue: 6
ISSN: 1045-2257
Publisher: Wiley Periodicals, Inc  
Date Published: 2017-06-01
Start Page: 501
End Page: 510
Language: English
DOI: 10.1002/gcc.22454
PROVIDER: scopus
PUBMED: 28233365
PMCID: PMC5643042
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 2 May 2017 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Cristina R Antonescu
    897 Antonescu
  2. Lei Zhang
    194 Zhang
  3. Yun Shao Sung
    124 Sung
  4. Chun Liang Chen
    35 Chen
  5. Yu-Chien   Kao
    23 Kao