DETECTION OF EPITHELIAL DYSPLASIA
Inventors: Mark Rutenberg Suffern, New York
Dr. Drore Eisen Cincinnati, Ohio
Dr. Stephen Frist Monsey, New York
Dr. Donald Alan Kristt Petach Tikvah, Israel
Related Applications
The present application relates to and is a continuation- in-part of U.S.
Nonprovisional Application Serial No. 09/298,218 filed April 23, 1999 ("the '218
application"); U.S. Nonprovisional Application Serial No. 09/298,219 filed April 23, 1999
("the '219 application"); and U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/225,186 filed
August 14, 2000 ("the '186 application"). The disclosures of those applications are fully incorporated herein by reference.
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the detection of epithelial dysplasia
using molecular diagnostic techniques either independently or in conjunction with a DNA ploidy analysis.
Background of the Invention
The most common cancer of the oral mucosa is squamous cell carcinoma. Pre-
malignant lesions have been traditionally identified based on light microscopic, histological
criteria for epithelial dysplasia. However, the microscopic assessment of epithelial dysplasia
is very subjective, and consequently often unreliable. Accurate, reproducible agreement
among experienced board-certified oral pathologists diagnosing oral epithelial dysplasia is
difficult to achieve, according to the study by Abbey, et al. In fact, these workers showed
that a given pathologist agrees exactly with his own microscopic diagnoses of epithelial
dysplasia in only 50.8% of cases.
Additionally a histological diagnosis of epithelial dysplasia, per se, does not ensure
that a pre-malignant lesion will undergo malignant transformation some time in the future.
Actually, many dysplastic lesions never transform into carcinoma. Further complicating
the prognostic assessment of oral mucosal epithelial changes is the observation that some
oral lesions transform, de novo, into carcinoma without passing through a dysplastic, pre-
malignant stage.
For these reasons, new diagnostic approaches need to be utilized. The goal is to
more reliably identify the earliest oral epethelial changes that destine a cell to progress
towards cancer., Since the ultimate pathogenetic basis for cancer lies in damage to the gene-
level growth control mechanisms of a cell, molecular biological approaches would seem a
natural direction for improved diagnosis of pre-malignant status. A number of workers
have begun to apply molecular biological methods to the oral mucosa in an effort to
delineate specific genomic alterations characteristic of the progressive stages in the
development of oral cancer. Detection of genetic changes in the oral mucosa has been
extensively studied as a method of identifying oral lesions that are dysplastic and cancerous
as well as lesions with potential to transform into cancerous lesions. For instance, the
fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique has been shown to be effective in
demonstrating chromosomal aberrations in head and neck cancers that are likely to exist
prior to the appearance of histological changes. Gene level amplification of the growth and
cell-cycle regulator, cyclin Dl, also has been demonstrated in cancers of the head and neck.
Other genetic abnormalities observed in Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCC) of this
region include the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at chromosomal sites on 3p, 9p, lip, llq
and 17p. The loss of heterozygosity on 3p, 9p, and 17p in pre-malignant lesions as well,
indicates that these alterations may play an important role in the earliest stages of
transformation. It is in these initial phases of neoplastic change that such molecular
biological information would provide a critical adjunct to the histopathological findings.
Similarly, superficial exfoliative cell samples have been used to map clonal genetic
alterations in the oral epithelium. In this way, allelic gene loss has been detected not only
in oral cancers, but in precancers as well.
Pre-malignant lesions and carcinomas have also been investigated
immunocytochemically for the expression of the protein product of the p53 tumor
suppressor gene. Although p53 is an early event in oral carcinogenesis,
immunohistochemistry cannot always detect changes in p53 expression in oral
precancerous lesions. Another immunocytochemically-detected protein, CD44 variant 6
(CD44v6) exhibits a change in its expression pattern progressively from non-neoplastic,
pre-malignant, and malignant (SCC) oral epithelial lesions. Cases with early features of
invasion showed distinctly downregulated expression of CD44v6 protein whereas benign
epithelial lesions expressed positive staining patterns comparable to those of the normal
counterparts. Another marker for early oral cancer are the antigens recognized by
monoclonal antibodies ( Abs) 17.13 and 63.12. These antibodies exhibit characteristic
reactivity patterns in normal oral epithelium. Altered reactivity patterns of MAb 17.13 are
associated with epithelial dysplasia and may be of assistance in detecting precancerous
changes. The level of glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity has also been shown to
correlate with the severity of oral epithelial dysplasia. Another method involves
proliferation markers such as the centromere-associated protein CENP-F, which is a
marker for cellular proliferation. In the basal and superficial cells of premalignant lesions,
CENP-F has been shown to be increased compared to specimens from normal oral
mucosa.
Silver cellular staining techniques have been used to quantitatively detect nucleolar
organizer regions (AgNOR) in squamous cell nuclei in oral lesions. The quantitative
features of AgNOR expression can discriminate between normal epithelium, dysplasia and
carcinoma.
Further, while a strong correlation between DNA ploidy and oncogeneis has been demonstrated, a DNA ploidy analysis based on DNA concentration measurements
through flow cytometry is subject to error. Detectable nuclear DNA content detectable
may be altered due to the cellular mechanisms of replication, polyploidization, radiation therapy or vitamin B12 deficiency.
In short, considerable research effort has already been expended in characteristizing
molecular diagnostic features as well as DNA ploidy of normal, dysplastic and malignant
epithelial cells of the oral mucosa. Nonetheless, the practical task of assessing a patient's
risk for developing oral squamous cell cancer still remains limited to the analysis of
histopathologic features of standard microscopic preparations.
Summary of the Invention
It is an object of this invention to provide a system and method to detect epithelial
dysplasia which utilizes non-lacerational trans-epithelial biopsy specimens based on
combining computer-assisted cytological analysis and/or molecular diagnostic techniques
for the purpose of increasing the sensitivity for detecting pre-cancerous and cancerous
changes of the oral mucosa.
Both '218 and '219 describe a system for selecting cells using computer assisted
analysis. This application describes the further use of molecular diagnostic techniques in
the detection of dysplasia as well as further enhancing the system by conducting DNA
ploidy analysis. By the inventors' knowledge, there are no systems which select suspect
cells from a population in order to further assess such cells for atypical DNA ploidy.
An object of the present invention is to provide a pathologist with the means to
retrieve the images of the epithelial cells which have been classified as atypical for a specific
determination of DNA ploidy and/or further molecular diagnostic analysis.
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Diagram 1 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention which utilizes biomarker in the process of identifying cancerous and
precancerous cells.
Diagram 2 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with another embodiment of
the invention which utilizes a DNA ploidy analysis in the process of identifying cancerous
and precancerous cells.
Diagram 3 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with the preferred embodiment
of the invention which utilizes both biomarkers and a DNA ploidy analysis in the process
of identifying cancerous and precancerous cells.
Detailed Description of the Invention and the Preferred Embodiment
In the preferred embodiment, the presence of abnormal cellular morphology,
abnormal keratinization and/or abnormal DNA ploidy, as detected by obtaining a non-
lacerational trans-epithelial cellular sample, are combined with methods that demonstrate
molecular alterations of cells from that trans-epithelial cellular sample to increase the
sensitivity of 1) detection of epithelial lesions that are dysplastic or cancerous and 2)
detection oi epithelial lesions that will progress to carcinoma. An advantage of the subject
invention over the prior art is greater sensitivity as an indicator of dysplasia and of a
developing carcinoma, even preceding morphological tissue alterations. The trans-
epithelial sample is preferably obtained using the device disclosed in the '186 application,
the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
Epithelial lesions that display "atypical" cellular changes in a trans-epithelial cellular
sample may or may not be of significance since some lesions represent carcinoma, others
represent premalignancy and yet others represent benign lesions which may ultimately
become malignant. By combining a DNA ploidy analysis of the trans-epithelial cellular
specimen with a molecular diagnostics determination, the present invention can be utilized
as a method of increasing the sensitivity for identifying those atypical epithelial lesions
which will progress to carcinoma as well as identifying those which will not.
As an important feature of this invention, the trans-epithelial sample of epithelial
tissue is examined for abnormalities in cellular morphology, DNA concentration, and
keratinization as disclosed in the pending '218 and '219 applications and/or examined for
other abnormalities in cellular morphology using computer assistance as disclosed in those
applications. Atypical cells are selected for by the computer and a DNA ploidy
determination of the suspect cells is then conducted by a pathologist..
Additionally, the sample may be analyzed with molecular diagnostic techniques
including, but not limited to, fluorescence and non-fluroescence in situ hybridization, loss
of heterozygosity, clonal genetic alterations, PCR, p53 expression and the expression
pattern of CD44 variant 6 protein by immunohistochemistry, monoclonal antibodies
reactivity patterns, glutathione S-transferase activity, quantitative assessment of nucleolar
organizer regions and cell cycle and proliferation markers such as the centromere- associated protein.
Molecular diagnostic as well as DNA ploidy determination techniques that have
been utilized to date have been performed on cellular specimens obtained from either
invasive, lacerational biopsies or from scrapings of superficial cells using cytologic
instruments. An advantage of this invention is the application of a DNA ploidy analysis
and molecular diagnostic techniques to cellular samples obtained with a noninvasive
apparatus such as that disclosed in the 6,258,044 patent, which samples cells from all levels
of an epithelial lesion. Another advantage of this invention is the increased sensitivity
compared to all existing methods by themselves, including histopathology, cytology, and
molecular diagnostic techniques of identifying dysplasia in epithelial tissue and the
detection of epithelial lesions that may progress to carcinoma as well as those which may
not.
The molecular diagnostic techniques can be applied before or after the trans-
epithelial sample of epithelial tissue is examined for abnormalities in cellular morphology,
abnormalities in keratinization or abnormalities in DNA ploidy as disclosed in the
pending '218 and '219 applications and/or examined for other abnormalities in cellular
morphology using computer assistance as disclosed in those applications. Furthermore, the
DNA ploidy determination may be made either independently or in conjunction with the
molecular diagnosis, but such DNA ploidy examination is always made in conjunction with
the methods and systems of the '218 and '219 applications.
Because most of the interpretations of DNA measurements are population-based,
the results of the computer analysis may be displayed as a DNA histogram. In a further
embodiment, a histogram is plotted based on the DNA ploidy of the cell population.
"Clean" cells, exhibiting normal nuclear to cytoplasmic ratios and morphology, are chosen
from the population. This allows for the indication of atypical cells relative to the
"normal" looking cells found within the same population and serves to eliminate the
reduced sensitivity associated with using a blind control. Additionally, errors associated
with estimating the DNA ploidy of a cell population are eliminated due to the fact that the
final DNA ploidy determination is conducted by a pathologist on a cell by cell basis.
Dysplasia is characterized as being either high-risk (aneuploid), intermediate-risk
(tetraploid) or a low risk (diploid) lesion. As the pathologist reviews the sample, an
indicator on the histogram serves to represent the relative DNA ploidy determination
found for an individual cell of interest. In a preferred embodiment, a light indicator on the
histogram alerts the pathologist as to the DNA ploidy of the selected cell of interest.
Results
Figs. 1-3 present data from superficial, intermediate and basal cell layers of the oral
cavity. Each quadrant contains a suspect cell found within the population under review
and includes a nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio displayed in the bottom left hand corner.
Fig. 1 and 2 display atypical cells warranting further investigation of the respective
patient. Both Figs, show an increase in the nuclear staining, an increase in the nuclear
cytoplasmic ratio, and nuclear crowding with a loss of polarity.
In Fig. 1, quadrants 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55 show an increase in
nuclear staining. Of special concern, quadrant 10 indicates that the cell of interest has a
high nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio (of 1: 9). This is observed by an increase in density as the
nucleus absorbs a larger portion of the cytometric dye. The ability to examine individual
cells of interest gives the pathologist a greater degree of accuracy. Further investigation may include additional harvesting of cells from the region of interest.
Similarly, Fig. 2 displays cells of a second patient also warranting further
investigation by a pathologist. Quadrants 60 and 65 indicate a relatively high nuclear to
cytoplasmic ratio of 1 to 13 and 1 to 17, respectively. Of additional concern, quadrants 125
and 130 contain naked nuclei surrounded by a bloody background. By examining the
actual cell the pathologist is able to determine that the low nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio is attributed to a cell which is no longer intact.
Fig 3. shows cells positive for dysplasia or carcinoma. As indicated by the display in
the bottom left hand corner of quadrants 150, 155 and 160, there is a dramatic increase in
the nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio. Upon further observance by a pathologist, it is noted the
cells have an irregular shape. The computer based retrieval of cells containing a
combination of irregular shape and nuclear DNA concentration allows the pathologist to
quickly focus on cells of interest. Again, regions of interest may be revisited and additional
cells harvested by the pathologist.
The final interpretation of the image analysis histogram may be conducted in
conjunction with the patient's history, biopsy findings, or any other pertinent test results.
For example: all the image results may then be integrated into the corresponding biopsy
report and discrepancies between the two addressed.
Having described this invention with regard to specific embodiments, it is to be
understood that the description is not meant as a limitation since further embodiments,
modifications and variations may be apparent or may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It is intended that the present application cover all such embodiments, modifications
and variations.