CEACAM1 expression by immunohistochemistry in B-cell lymphomas and plasma cell myeloma.

OBJECTIVES

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma with limited curative treatment options. Carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) has recently been implicated in B-cell receptor signaling in MCL. We evaluated CEACAM1 expression by immunohistochemistry across MCL and other mature B-cell neoplasms, including small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and multiple myeloma (MM).

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 164 lymphoma cases, 35 MM cases, and 2 plasmacytomas. CEACAM1 expression was assessed on tissue microarrays by immunohistochemistry and scored using a prespecified dichotomous cutoff. In DLBCL, CEACAM1 status was correlated with cell-of-origin classification and targeted mutational data.

RESULTS

CEACAM1 was expressed in 27 of 30 MCL cases (90%), higher than in the other lymphoma subtypes combined (35%; P < .0001). Expression was also seen in SLL (20/30, 67%), MM (23/35, 66%), MZL (8/22, 36%), and DLBCL (19/82, 23%). In DLBCL, expression was more frequent in germinal center B-cell subtype than activated B-cell subtype cases (30% vs 13%; P = .023). Within sequenced DLBCL cases, CEACAM1 expression was associated with BCL2 and TNFRSF14 mutations. In MM, CEACAM1 expression was not significantly associated with recurrent cytogenetic abnormalities, although a nonsignificant trend toward higher expression in t(11;14) cases (75% vs 53%, Fisher exact P = .28).

CONCLUSIONS

CEACAM1 is frequently expressed in MCL and in subsets of other mature B-cell neoplasms and MM. These findings support further investigation of CEACAM1 as a biologically relevant marker and potential therapeutic target in selected lymphoid malignancies.