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Subtyping hepatic adenomas is important for patient management due to differing complication risks. Immunohistochemical staining with C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid-A (SAA) is widely accepted as a surrogate for molecular classification to identify inflammatory hepatocellular adenomas. Limited data, however, has been published on how these 2 stains compare for sensitivity. We conducted a large, multicenter, retrospective study to examine the sensitivity and staining characteristics of CRP and SAA in inflammatory hepatic adenomas, with focal nodular hyperplasia (FNHs) as a control group. Inflammatory adenomas were identified in 133 patients (average age 37 years, 109 were female). In all, 69.9% of cases were resection specimens and 90.2% of all cases showed positive staining for both CRP and SAA; 10 (7.5%) were positive for CRP only and 3 (2.3%) were positive for SAA only. CRP was more sensitive than SAA (97.74% vs. 92.48%, P -value = 0.0961) and showed more extensive and intense staining, with a significantly higher modified H-score ( P <0.001). Focal nodular hyperplasia can also show positive CRP and SAA staining but with a lower modified H-score ( P <0.0001). Based on beta-catenin and glutamine synthetase staining, 26 of inflammatory adenomas also had beta-catenin activation (19.5%). All 3 cases with positive SAA and negative CRP staining were beta-catenin activated. In contrast, the proportion of cases that were CRP positive and SAA negative was similar regardless of beta-catenin activation. The data affirms the strategy of using both CRP and SAA immunostains for hepatic adenoma subtyping and raises the awareness of the highly variable nature of SAA staining characteristics., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The methylated SEPT9 DNA ( mSEPT9 ) in plasma is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved screening biomarker in colorectal cancer and is emerging as a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated the SEPT9 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in various hepatic tumors from 164 hepatectomies and explants. Cases diagnosed as HCC (n=68), hepatocellular adenoma (n=31), dysplastic nodule (n=24), and metastasis (n=41) were retrieved. SEPT9 stain was performed on representative tissue blocks showing tumor/liver interface. For HCC, archived IHC (SATB2, CK19, CDX2, CK20, and CDH17) slides were also reviewed. The findings were correlated with demographics, risk factors, tumor size, alpha fetoprotein levels at diagnosis, T stage and oncologic outcomes, with significance defined as P <0.05. Percentage of SEPT9 positivity differed significantly among hepatocellular adenoma (3%), dysplastic nodule (0%), HCC (32%), and metastasis (83%, P <0.001). Compared with patients with SEPT9- HCC, those with SEPT9+ HCC were older (70 vs. 63 y, P =0.01). The extent of SEPT9 staining correlated with age ( rs =0.31, P =0.01), tumor grade ( rs =0.30, P =0.01), and extent of SATB2 staining ( rs =0.28, P =0.02). No associations were found between SEPT9 staining and tumor size, T stage, risk factors, CK19, CDX2, CK20, or CDH17 expression, alpha fetoprotein levels at diagnosis, METAVIR fibrosis stage, and oncologic outcome in the HCC cohort. SEPT9 is likely implicated in liver carcinogenesis in a HCC subset. Similar to mSEPT9 DNA measurement in liquid biopsies, SEPT9 staining by IHC may prove helpful as an adjunct diagnostic biomarker with potential prognostic ramifications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs) often pursue an innocuous clinical course. Recent work has elucidated important subtypes of HCA and biomarkers to identify them, including HCA at an increased risk for malignant transformation. Another key complication of HCAs is the risk of spontaneous tumoral hemorrhage, which may be life-threatening. Identification of a predictive biomarker for this clinical complication would therefore be of clinical value. It has been suggested that Argininosuccinate Synthase 1 (ASS1) immunohistochemistry (IHC) identifies HCA with a high propensity for hemorrhage. The aim of our study was to validate ASS1 IHC as a predictive marker of hemorrhage. Eighty-nine HCAs were collected for ASS1 IHC and subtyped according to published criteria. Clinical records were examined for evidence of tumoral hemorrhage. Twenty-one (23.6%) HCAs were complicated by clinically detected hemorrhage and were more likely to be resected (P=0.0002). Hemorrhage complicated all WHO subtypes of HCA. There was no association between hemorrhage and HCA subtype (P=0.92). Neither the distribution of ASS1 expression nor the intensity of ASS1 expression compared to normal liver showed a significant association with hemorrhage (P=0.051 and 0.34). Interlaboratory comparison of 8 cases showed good agreement regarding the intensity (6/8 and 7/8) and distribution of staining (7/8 and 7/8) across 3 laboratories performing ASS1 IHC. In conclusion, all subtypes of HCA may be complicated by hemorrhage. ASS1 IHC expression did not correlate with hemorrhagic complications. Caution is prudent before routine implementation of ASS1 IHC in clinical practice.

Background: The pathologic distinction between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) is sometimes problematic due to histologic overlap between the 2 entities, a problem amplified on small biopsy specimens. Several recently characterized immunohistochemical markers such as glypican-3 (GPC-3), heat-shock protein-70 (HSP-70), and glutamine synthetase (GS) help distinguish dysplastic nodules from HCC. The utility of this panel in the distinction of low-grade hepatocellular carcinoma (LG-HCC) from HCA has not been fully described., Objective: To determine whether the above markers are useful in the distinction of HCCs from HCAs., Design: Tissue microarrays were constructed with 30 LG-HCCs and 18 HCAs. The arrays were stained with the above markers and analyzed with respect to amount and pattern of staining. GPC-3 and HSP-70 were considered positive when 10% of tumor cells showed immunoreactivity. GS was considered positive when 50% of tumor cells showed immunoreactivity., Results: GPC-3 was positive in 13 of 30 LG-HCCs and 0 of 18 adenomas. The sensitivity was 43% and the specificity was 100%. HSP-70 was positive in 14 of 30 LG-HCCs and 0 of 18 adenomas. The sensitivity was 46% and the specificity was 100%. GS was positive in 24 of 30 LG-HCCs and 9 of 18 adenomas. The sensitivity was 80% and the specificity was 50%., Conclusions: GPC-3 and HSP-70 are helpful in separating carcinomas from adenomas. GS is not useful in this clinical context.

The human c-erb B2 proto-oncogene (Her2/ ) encodes a 185-kD transmembrane putative growth factor receptor of the tyrosine kinase family. Overexpression or amplification of this oncoprotein/oncogene has been established in breast, ovarian, salivary gland, and gastric carcinomas and has been implicated in other neoplasms. Recently, overexpression of c-erb B2 has been demonstrated in hepatocellular carcinoma using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have a poor prognosis, and overexpression of c-erb B2 may have prognostic and treatment implications. The authors evaluated the expression and amplification of c-erb B2 in hepatic neoplasms utilizing routine immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 27 hepatocellular carcinomas and 7 hepatocellular adenomas were immunostained with anti-c-erb B2 utilizing a modified avidin-biotin technique following heat induced antigen retrieval. Ten sections from hepatocellular carcinomas were subjected to fluorescence in situ hybridization assay. Positive and negative controls stained appropriately. Slides were evaluated independently by two pathologists. None of the hepatocellular carcinomas or hepatocellular adenomas was immunoreactive with anti-c-erb B2. Adjacent cirrhotic liver parenchyma, present in 11 cases, was also uniformly negative. None of hepatocellular carcinomas showed any evidence of c-erb B2 amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Immunoreactivity for c-erb B2 was not demonstrated in hepatocellular adenomas, cirrhotic livers, or hepatocellular carcinomas using routine immunohistochemical methods. C-erb B2 amplification was not demonstrated in hepatocellular carcinomas. Neither overexpression nor amplification of c-erb B2 (Her2/ ) can be regarded as a useful prognostic factor in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The effects of ovariectomy and hormone replacement in control and carcinogen treated female rats were investigated by measuring whole blood and liver glutathione (WGSH, HGSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GRx) and histological evaluation. Hepatocarcinogenesis was induced by diethylnitrosamine and 2-acetylaminofluorene. In control rats not receiving carcinogen, ovariectomy significantly increased the GST and GRx activities. Replacement with either estrogen or progesterone reduced the GST activities to below intact female values whereas replacement of both hormones together brought the GST activities to that of intact females. GRx activities were brought to intact female values by replacement with estrogen or progesterone, either singly or in combination. Neither ovariectomy nor sex hormone/s replacement influenced the levels of WGSH, HGSH and GPx activities. Carcinogen administration to intact rats increased all the parameters measured. Ovariectomized rats treated with carcinogen showed lower GPx and GRx activities at 2 mths. However, replacement with either progesterone or combined estrogen and progesterone increased GPx and GRx activities to original values. On the other hand GST and GPx activities in ovariectomized rats which had carcinogen treatment were lower than intact rats after 5 mths. Replacement with hormones either singly or both brought GST and GPx activities up to intact rat levels receiving carcinogen. The levels of WGSH, HGSH and GRx activities (5 mths) in carcinogen treated rats were not influenced by ovariectomy and/or hormone/s replacement. The results from this study suggested that ovariectomy reduced the severity of hepatocarcinogenesis which was restored by sex hormone/s replacement.