Skip to main content
Log in

A novel ATXN1-DUX4 fusion expands the spectrum of ‘CIC-rearranged sarcoma’ of the CNS to include non-CIC alterations

  • Correspondence
  • Published:
Acta Neuropathologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Antonescu CR, Owosho AA, Zhang L, Chen S, Deniz K, Huryn JM et al (2017) Sarcomas with CIC-rearrangements are a distinct pathologic entity with aggressive outcome: a clinicopathologic and molecular study of 115 cases. Am J Surg Pathol 41:941–949. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000000846

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Bielle F, Zanello M, Guillemot D, Gil-Delgado M, Bertrand A, Boch AL et al (2014) Unusual primary cerebral localization of a CIC–DUX4 translocation tumor of the Ewing sarcoma family. Acta Neuropathol 128:309–311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-014-1312-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Capper D, Jones DTW, Sill M, Hovestadt V, Schrimpf D, Sturm D et al (2018) DNA methylation-based classification of central nervous system tumours. Nature 555:469–474. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature26000

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Castel D, Kergrohen T, Tauziede-Espariat A, Mackay A, Ghermaoui S, Lechapt E et al (2020) Histone H3 wild-type DIPG/DMG overexpressing EZHIP extend the spectrum diffuse midline gliomas with PRC2 inhibition beyond H3–K27M mutation. Acta Neuropathol 139:1109–1113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-020-02142-w

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Fults D, Pedone CA, Morse HG, Rose JW, McKay RD (1992) Establishment and characterization of a human primitive neuroectodermal tumor cell line from the cerebral hemisphere. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 51:272–280. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005072-199205000-00005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ghandi M, Huang FW, Jane-Valbuena J, Kryukov GV, Lo CC, McDonald ER 3rd et al (2019) Next-generation characterization of the cancer cell line encyclopedia. Nature 569:503–508. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1186-3

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Haidar A, Arekapudi S, DeMattia F, Abu-Isa E, Kraut M (2015) High-grade undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma with t(4;19)(q35;q13.1) CIC–DUX4 fusion: emerging entities of soft tissue tumors with unique histopathologic features—a case report and literature review. Am J Case Rep 16:87–94. https://doi.org/10.12659/AJCR.892551

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Hu W, Wang J, Yuan L, Zhang X, Ji Y, Song C et al (2020) Case report: a unique case of pediatric central nervous system embryonal tumor harboring the CIC–LEUTX fusion, germline NBN Variant And Somatic TSC2 mutation: expanding the spectrum of CIC-rearranged neoplasia. Front Oncol 10:598970. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2020.598970

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Huang SC, Zhang L, Sung YS, Chen CL, Kao YC, Agaram NP et al (2016) Recurrent CIC gene abnormalities in angiosarcomas: a molecular study of 120 cases with concurrent investigation of PLCG1, KDR, MYC, and FLT4 gene alterations. Am J Surg Pathol 40:645–655. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000000582

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Iorio F, Knijnenburg TA, Vis DJ, Bignell GR, Menden MP, Schubert M et al (2016) A landscape of pharmacogenomic interactions in cancer. Cell 166:740–754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.06.017

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Italiano A, Sung YS, Zhang L, Singer S, Maki RG, Coindre JM et al (2012) High prevalence of CIC fusion with double-homeobox (DUX4) transcription factors in EWSR1-negative undifferentiated small blue round cell sarcomas. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 51:207–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/gcc.20945

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kao YC, Sung YS, Chen CL, Zhang L, Dickson BC, Swanson D et al (2017) ETV transcriptional upregulation is more reliable than RNA sequencing algorithms and FISH in diagnosing round cell sarcomas with CIC gene rearrangements. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 56:501–510. https://doi.org/10.1002/gcc.22454

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Kawamura-Saito M, Yamazaki Y, Kaneko K, Kawaguchi N, Kanda H, Mukai H et al (2006) Fusion between CIC and DUX4 up-regulates PEA3 family genes in Ewing-like sarcomas with t(4;19)(q35;q13) translocation. Hum Mol Genet 15:2125–2137. https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddl136

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Lambo S, Grobner SN, Rausch T, Waszak SM, Schmidt C, Gorthi A et al (2019) The molecular landscape of ETMR at diagnosis and relapse. Nature 576:274–280. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1815-x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Le Loarer F, Pissaloux D, Watson S, Godfraind C, Galmiche-Rolland L, Silva K et al (2019) Clinicopathologic features of CIC–NUTM1 sarcomas, a new molecular variant of the family of CIC-fused sarcomas. Am J Surg Pathol 43:268–276. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000001187

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Parker M, Mohankumar KM, Punchihewa C, Weinlich R, Dalton JD, Li Y et al (2014) C11orf95-RELA fusions drive oncogenic NF-kappaB signalling in ependymoma. Nature 506:451–455. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13109

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Siegfried A, Masliah-Planchon J, Roux FE, Larrieu-Ciron D, Pierron G, Nicaise Y et al (2019) Brain tumor with an ATXN1-NUTM1 fusion gene expands the histologic spectrum of NUTM1-rearranged neoplasia. Acta Neuropathol Commun 7:220. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-019-0870-8

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Sturm D, Orr BA, Toprak UH, Hovestadt V, Jones DTW, Capper D et al (2016) New brain tumor entities emerge from molecular classification of CNS-PNETs. Cell 164:1060–1072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.01.015

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Sugita S, Arai Y, Aoyama T, Asanuma H, Mukai W, Hama N et al (2017) NUTM2A-CIC fusion small round cell sarcoma: a genetically distinct variant of CIC-rearranged sarcoma. Hum Pathol 65:225–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humpath.2017.01.012

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Sugita S, Arai Y, Tonooka A, Hama N, Totoki Y, Fujii T et al (2014) A novel CIC–FOXO4 gene fusion in undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma: a genetically distinct variant of Ewing-like sarcoma. Am J Surg Pathol 38:1571–1576. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000000286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Suh J, Romano DM, Nitschke L, Herrick SP, DiMarzio BA, Dzhala V et al (2019) Loss of Ataxin-1 potentiates Alzheimer’s pathogenesis by elevating cerebral BACE1 transcription. Cell 178(1159–1175):e1117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Tamai S, Nakano Y, Kinoshita M, Sabit H, Nobusawa S, Arai Y et al (2020) Ependymoma with C11orf95-MAML2 fusion: presenting with granular cell and ganglion cell features. Brain Tumor Pathol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10014-020-00388-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Yoshida A, Arai Y, Kobayashi E, Yonemori K, Ogura K, Hama N et al (2017) CIC break-apart fluorescence in-situ hybridization misses a subset of CIC–DUX4 sarcomas: a clinicopathological and molecular study. Histopathology 71:461–469. https://doi.org/10.1111/his.13252

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Yoshida A, Goto K, Kodaira M, Kobayashi E, Kawamoto H, Mori T et al (2016) CIC-rearranged sarcomas: a study of 20 cases and comparisons with Ewing sarcomas. Am J Surg Pathol 40:313–323. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000000570

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The University of Michigan Peds-MiOncoSeq study is supported by Grant 1UM1HG006508 from the NIH Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Award (principle investigator: Arul Chinnaiyan, coinvestigator: Rajen Mody). We thank the MI-Oncoseq integrative clinical sequencing and bioinformatic analysis team for the genomics and transcriptome data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

DP conceived the project, wrote the manuscript, and performed the bioinformatic analyses for methylation and copy number data. CK-S contributed to the concept, analyzed the clinical sequencing data, identified the ATXN1-DUX4 fusion, performed gene expression analysis and wrote the manuscript. AF and EC provided a critical review of the manuscript and clinical care of the patient. RM, HX and LX designed and performed the ATXN1 FISH probe assay. MC analyzed the whole genome sequencing data. AMC and RM critically reviewed the manuscript and supervised the MI-ONCOSEQ analyses. KA and MQ supervised and interpreted the methylation array analyses and critically reviewed the manuscript. SCP supervised the project, critically reviewed the manuscript, and provided clinical care for the patient.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Drew Pratt or Sandra Camelo-Piragua.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Patient consent for publication

Obtained.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

401_2021_2278_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary file1Supplemental Fig. 1. Microscopic features were similar to previously reported CIC-rearranged sarcomas and included round cell cytomorphology with a myxoid matrix (a) admixed with more spindled cell regions (b). Immunohistochemical staining for NUTM1 was negative (c) (TIF 823 KB)

401_2021_2278_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary file2Supplemental Fig. 2. Results of integrative clinical sequencing detailing the discovery of a novel ATXN1-DUX4 gene fusion, subclonal mutations, and copy number alterations of chromosomes 1p, 6p, 9q, 10, and 17q. (TIF 2442 KB)

401_2021_2278_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Supplementary file3Supplemental Fig. 3. Copy number aberrations from exome sequencing data (a) confirmed a breakpoint on chromosome 6p involving ATXN1 (6p22.3) with a relatively stable genome lacking amplifications or focal deletions. The segmented copy number derived from methylation signal intensities (b) also confirmed an ATXN1 breakpoint with an intact CIC gene locus (TIF 4492 KB)

401_2021_2278_MOESM4_ESM.tif

Supplementary file4Supplemental Fig. 4. Whole-genome sequencing data (a). Visualization of chromosomal break localized at ATXN1 on Chromosome 6 (GRCh38) based on samplot of whole-genome sequencing data. The genomic location of ATXN1 is shown below. BAC constructs flanking the breakpoint used to perform the FISH assay for ATXN1 gene rearrangement using dual-color break-apart probes are shown (b). The index case showed 63.5% of tumor cells containing an abnormal probe pattern where the majority were one fused signal and one green signal. Normal (control) cells show fused signals (not shown) (TIF 1990 KB)

401_2021_2278_MOESM5_ESM.tif

Supplementary file5Supplemental Fig. 5. T2-weighted axial image of the basal ganglia mass detected at clinical presentation and before treatment (a). A reduction in the size of the mass can be appreciated after 4 months of treatment as per COG AEWS0031, Regimen B (b) (TIF 1535 KB)

401_2021_2278_MOESM6_ESM.tif

Supplementary file6Supplemental Fig. 6. Transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) showed overexpression of the PEA3 subclass of the ETS transcription factor gene family members ETV4, ETV5, and ETV1 (a). Shown is percentile ranking of Fragments Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads (FPKM) among the MI-Oncoseq cohort (see Online Resource Supplemental Material for details). Previously reported CNS EFT-CIC tumor-specific gene expression signatures [18], including CAMK1G, SHC4, MYO1D, FOXN3, ERVH48-1, and CCNE1, were upregulated in the index case (b). NUTM1 gene expression was not increased (c) (TIF 2606 KB)

Supplementary file7 (DOCX 33 KB)

Supplementary file8 (XLSX 46 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pratt, D., Kumar-Sinha, C., Cieślik, M. et al. A novel ATXN1-DUX4 fusion expands the spectrum of ‘CIC-rearranged sarcoma’ of the CNS to include non-CIC alterations. Acta Neuropathol 141, 619–622 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-021-02278-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-021-02278-3

Navigation