Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with basaloid features are genetically and prognostically similar to conventional squamous cell carcinoma

We compared clinicopathologic and molecular features of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with basaloid features to conventional SCC using surgical resections of treatment naive esophageal carcinomas and cases available from the TCGA database. Twenty-two cases of SCC with basaloid features were identified in the Mass General Brigham pathology archives, including 9 cases with pure basaloid morphology and 13 cases with mixed other features such as conventional well- or poorly differentiated areas or sarcomatoid areas. Thirty-eight cases of conventional SCC matched by tumor stage were used as controls. HPV infection status was tested by p16 immunohistochemistry and HPV mRNA ISH. Digital slides for 94 cases of esophageal SCC from TCGA found in the Genomic Data Commons (GDC) Data Portal were reviewed. Five cases of SCC with basaloid features were identified. Genomic profiles of SCC with basaloid features were compared to the rest of 89 SCCs without basaloid features. In addition, eight tumor sections from six patients selected from our cohort underwent in-house molecular profiling. Compared to conventional SCC, SCC with basaloid features were more frequently associated with diffuse or multifocal squamous dysplasia (p < 0.001). P16 IHC was positive in 2/13 cases, whereas HPV mRNA ISH was negative in 17/17 cases (including both p16-positive cases). SCC with basaloid features and conventional SCC from TCGA showed similar rates of TP53 mutations, CDKN2A/B deletions, and CCDN1 amplifications. TP53 variants were identified in all in-house samples that had sufficient coverage. Survival analyses between SCC with basaloid features versus conventional SCC (matched for tumor stage) did not reveal any statistically significant differences. In conclusion, esophageal SCC with basaloid features has similar survival and genomic alterations to those of conventional SCC, are more frequently associated with diffuse or multifocal dysplasia, and are not associated with HPV (high-risk strains) infection.

Automated summary

This study compared the clinicopathologic and molecular features of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with basaloid features and conventional SCC. The findings suggest that SCC with basaloid features has similar survival and genomic alterations to conventional SCC, and is more commonly associated with diffuse or multifocal squamous dysplasia but not with high-risk HPV infection.