Case Report
TTF1 Expression in Pulmonary Metastatic
Rectal Adenocarcinoma
Sara Aversa and Cristiana Bellan
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Section of Pathology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Correspondence should be addressed to Cristiana Bellan; cristiana.bellan@unisi.it
Received 12 August 2018; Accepted 25 November 2018; Published 5 December 2018
Academic Editor: Chia-Tung Shun
Copyright © 2018 Sara Aversa and Cristiana Bellan. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Tyroid transcription factor (TTF-1) is a tissue-specifc nuclear transcription factor expressed developing thyroid, respiratory
epithelium, and diencephalon. TTF-1 is thought to be expressed specifcally in most thyroid tumors and in a signifcant subset
of pulmonary neoplasms. However, recent studies on its expression in extrapulmonary carcinomas have demonstrated that TTF-1
is not as specifc for lung and thyroid carcinomas as was previously thought: positivity of this marker can be observed, although
much less frequently, in some carcinomas arising in other organs, such as the ovaries, endometrium, colon, and breast, as well as
in some tumors of the central nervous system. Case reports of patients with TTF-1-positive colon adenocarcinoma are present in
medical literature, but there are only a few cases of TTF-1-positive rectal adenocarcinoma. We present the case of a patient with rectal
adenocarcinoma with lung metastasis found to be TTF-1-positive on immunohistochemistry. A review of the available literature is
also included.
1. Introduction
Te thyroid transcription factor (TTF-1) is a nuclear protein,
part of the Nkx2 gene family. Its expression in normal tissues
is restricted to the thyroid and pulmonary epithelium [1,
2]. In lung adenocarcinoma, TTF-1 has been considered a
highly sensitive (up to 84% sensitivity) and specifc marker
(85–100% specifcity) for primary lung adenocarcinoma,
and it is therefore used as a reliable tool in distinguishing
primary lung adenocarcinoma from other malignancies [3].
Nevertheless, in recent years, several studies have highlighted
that some cancer arising in other organs, in particular in
the intestinal tract, can manifest positivity for this marker
[1, 2, 4]. Rare cases of patients with TTF-1-positive rectal
adenocarcinoma have been reported. Here, we present a case
of rectal cancer with TTF-1-positive lung metastasis which
highlights the importance of using additional panels.
2. Case Presentation
A 69-year-old patient was diagnosed with a rectal ade-
nocarcinoma (G2) on biopsy afer an endoscopic control
examination in 2013. He was treated frst with radio adjuvant
chemotherapy and subsequently with surgery. Tis combi-
nation of treatments has led to a complete response: any
residual areas of cancer and lymph node involvement were
documented on the surgical piece (yPT1N0 A/I G2 Sec
MANDARD). In 2018, during regular oncological follow-up,
a subpleural pulmonary nodule in lower lobe of the lef lung
of about 15x10 mm was detected. Considering the patient's
clinical history, his general conditions, and localization of the
lesion, a surgical resection of the lung was performed. On
the macroscopic exam of the sample, physicians observed a
neoformation of 1.9x1.5x0.6 cm, which is whitish, solid, with
irregular but well-defned margins, 0.6 cm away from the
surgical suture and 0.1 cm from the visceral pleura. Histologic
examination demonstrated an epitheliomorphic neoplasm
with acinar diferentiation (Figure 1). Te adenocarcinoma
cells were positive for cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and scattered
positivity for caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) was found.
TTF-1 was also strongly and difusely positive. Te tumor
cells were negative for CK7 and Napsin A. Retrospective
review of his previous primary tumor tissue showed similar
histologic fndings with TTF-1 positivity. On the basis of the
Hindawi
Case Reports in Gastrointestinal Medicine
Volume 2018, Article ID 6405125, 3 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6405125