In 79 patients with resected primary ACC from a French cohort (Cochin-COMETE), β-catenin expression was assessed on tumor specimens by immunohistochemistry.
Analysis regarding the level of expression of Wnt/β-catenin and p53 signaling has shown alterations, in keeping with the known molecular somatic genetic defects of these pathways that are observed in ACC.
A role of beta-catenin (CTNNB1) in the molecular pathogenesis of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) has been suspected in adult ACC and pediatric pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease, but it has never been reported in pediatric ACC.
ACTs from patients with FAP and sporadic adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) with abnormal β-catenin localization on immunohistochemistry but no somatic β-catenin mutations were studied.
Somatic activating mutations of the beta-catenin gene (CTNNB1) are the most frequent genetic defects identified both in adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs) and adrenocortical cancers (ACCs).
Molecular alterations in the APC/beta-catenin pathway were detected in 23.5% (4 of 17) of the carcinomas, including one ACC with an activating mutation of the beta-catenin oncogene and three ACCs with truncating APC mutations.