GATA3 Expression in Human Tumors: A Tissue Microarray Study on 16,557 Tumors
Viktor Reiswich, Carol E. Schmidt, Maximilian Lennartz, Doris Höflmayer, Claudia Hube‐Magg, Sören Weidemann, Christoph Fraune, Franziska Büscheck, Katharina Möller, Christian Bernreuther, Ronald Simon, Till S. Clauditz, Niclas C. Blessin, Elena Bady, Guido Sauter, Ria Uhlig, Stefan Steurer, Sarah Minner, Eike Burandt, David Dum, Andreas H. Marx, Till Krech, Patrick Lebok, Andrea Hinsch, Frank Jacobsen
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: GATA3 is a transcription factor involved in epithelial cell differentiation. GATA3 immunostaining is used as a diagnostic marker for breast and urothelial cancer but can also occur in other neoplasms. METHODS: To evaluate GATA3 in normal and tumor tissues, a tissue microarray containing 16,557 samples from 131 different tumor types and subtypes and 608 samples of 76 different normal tissue types was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: GATA3 positivity was found in 69 different tumor types including 23 types (18%) with at least one strongly positive tumor. Highest positivity rates occurred in noninvasive papillary urothelial carcinoma (92-99%), lobular carcinoma (98%), carcinoma of no special type of the breast (92%), basal cell carcinoma of the skin (97%), invasive urothelial carcinoma (73%), T-cell lymphoma (23%), adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland (16%), squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (16%), and colorectal neuroendocrine carcinoma (12%). In breast cancer, low GATA3 staining was linked to high pT stage (p = 0.03), high BRE grade (p < 0.0001), HER2 overexpression (p = 0.0085), estrogen and progesterone receptor negativity (p < 0.0001 each), and reduced survival (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrate that GATA3 positivity can occur in various tumor entities. Low levels of GATA3 reflect cancer progression and poor patient prognosis in breast cancer.