Co-occurrence of bronchiolar adenoma and lung adenocarcinoma: a study of nine cases revealing distinct clonal origins via integrated histologic, immunophenotypic and molecular analysis.
PURPOSE: This study sought to elucidate the possible biological association between BA and lung adenocarcinoma through an analysis of cases in which both lesions coexist within the same specimen. METHODS: In our cohort, the BA and lung cancer components of nine concurrent-type BAs were microdissected using the Millisect system and subjected to whole-exome sequencing (WES). Their histopathological, immunohistochemical, and genomic profiles were comparatively evaluated. RESULTS: Histopathologically, the BA regions of concurrent-type BAs exhibited a classic bilayered architecture, composed of continuous luminal and basal cell layers. The adjacent monolayered concurrent components were diagnosed as adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS, N = 4), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA, N = 2), and invasive adenocarcinoma (ADC, N = 3). Immunohistochemically, both luminal and basal cells in BA regions expressed thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF1), albeit with more heterogeneous staining intensity compared to that observed in tumor components. Molecularly, EGFR mutations were the most frequently identified in either BA or tumor components, or in both (Case 9). In BA components, mutations included exon 19 p.S752F, exon 19 deletions (p.L747_T751delinsP and p.E746_T751delinsVP), and compound G719C/S768I mutations. Tumor components harbored exon 28 S1130C, exon 19 indel (p.E746_S752delins), and exon 18 p.G719C mutations. Notably, only three cases demonstrated limited overlap of mutations and copy number variations (CNVs) between the two components. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that six cases shared truncal alterations in genes including KMT2A, PIK3CA, SETD2, MITF, PBRM1, and SRSF3, one case harbored a shared canonical EGFR mutation (p.G719C), with an additional p.S768I alteration uniquely detected in the BA component. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient evidence to support BA as a premalignant lesion for lung adenocarcinoma base on morphological and molecular variables, and they may represent distinct pathological entities.