Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are known for an overexpression of somatostatin receptors (SSTR). In light of very few and partially contradictory publications, the present study aims to achieve a definite immunohistochemical (IHC) quantification and assessment of the distribution of all five SSTR-subtypes on NET and to evaluate an implementable scoring system, comparing the immunoreactive score of Remmele and Stegner (IRS) to the Her2-score. In 21 patients 40 different tumor tissues were IHC analysed using polyclonal antibodies for SSTR1 and 3-5 and the monoclonal antibody UMB-1 for SSTR2A. SSTR expression was quantitatively evaluated according to HER2-score and IRS, correlated among each other and to the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in tumor lesions as measured by PET/CT using 68Ga-DOTA-NOC.
Results: According to the IRS, the expression of SSTR2A and 3 predominated equally with 84%, followed by SSTR4 (44%) and SSTR1 and 5 (32%). With the Her2-scoring system the most frequent subtype was found to be SSTR2A (68%), followed by SSTR3 (64%), SSTR1 (44%), SSTR5 (40%), and SSTR4 (36%). The IRS-classification and the Her2-score were found to be statistically comparable, and their correlation is highly significant for each SSTR assessment (p<0.01).
Conclusion: The results of the analyses revealed heterogeneous expression patterns. SSTR2A and 3 were highly expressed, demonstrating the importance of SSTR for diagnostics and therapy. Relatively high frequency of SSTR3 and 4 on NET give reasons to try pansomatostatin analogues for therapy rather than concentrating only on the SSTR2A. Statistically, none of the immunohistochemical scores was superior. However, due the heterogeneity of the cytoplasmic staining justice we propose the IRS as a uniform scoring scheme for IHC NET diagnostic.
Keywords: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors; Her2-score; IRS; UMB-1 antibody; immunohistochemistry; somatostatin receptors.