Utility of SATB2 and MOC-31 Immunostains to Distinguish Between Poorly Differentiated Rectal Adenocarcinoma and Anal...

Colorectal adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can arise in the anorectum and present a significant diagnostic challenge when poorly differentiated. Accurate diagnosis can significantly influence management, as the treatments for these conditions involve distinct neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy regimens. MOC-31 and SATB2 have been utilized as specific markers of glandular differentiation and colorectal origin, respectively, but studies have shown that they may be positive in squamous cell carcinoma of other sites. This raises the concern that MOC-31 and SATB2 may be positive in squamous cell carcinoma of the anorectum, and overreliance on these stains may be a potential diagnostic pitfall in differentiating rectal poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (PDA) from anal nonkeratinizing SCC.

We identified biopsies from 10 rectal PDA and 17 anorectal nonkeratinizing SCC cases and stained them for MOC-31 and SATB2.

We found that MOC-31 was highly sensitive, being positive in 10/10 cases of rectal PDA, but not specific, as it was also positive in 11/17 SCC cases. In contrast, SATB2 was both sensitive, with positive staining in 10/10 rectal PDA cases, and specific, with negative staining in 17/17 SCC cases. This includes equivocal staining in 4 of these negative SCC cases. MOC-31 had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 35.3%, while SATB2 had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 100%.

Unlike squamous mucosa of the head and neck, and esophagus, SCC of the anus does not frequently stain positively for SATB2. These data suggest that SATB2 is a reliable marker in distinguishing rectal PDA from anorectal nonkeratinizing SCC, whereas MOC-31 is commonly positive in SCC of the anus. It is also important to note that equivocal SATB2 staining may be seen in SCC.