Clinicopathologic and Molecular Genetic Features of Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcoma Harboring ZFP64::NCOA2/3 Fusions: A Series of 14 Cases
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Spindle cell rhabdomyosarcomas (SCRMS), recognized by the 2020 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Soft Tissue and Bone as a distinct entity, comprise a family of malignant skeletal muscle tumors sharing spindle cell morphology. To date, members of this family include (1) MyoD1-mutated SCRMS/sclerosing rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS), (2) intraosseous SCRMS with FET::TFCP2 or MEIS1::NCOA2 fusions, and (3) infantile/congenital SCRMS harboring NCOA1/2 or VGLL3 rearrangements. A rare, emerging subtype of SCRMS has been reported to harbor recurrent ZFP64::NCOA3 fusions. We studied 14 cases of this rare SCRMS subtype. The tumors presented in 11 men and 3 women (median age, 39.5 years; range, 22-69 years) and involved the thigh (4), lower leg (2), gluteal soft tissues (2), abdominal wall (1), mediastinum (1), subperiosteal surface of third rib (1), glottis (1), prostate (1), and pelvis (1). Morphologically, 11 tumors showed uniform spindle cell morphology with a fascicular architecture, whereas the remaining 3 tumors demonstrated focal or predominant round cell morphology. Extensive chondro-osseous differentiation was seen in 2 cases. By immunohistochemistry, tumors were variably positive for both desmin and MyoD1 (6 tumors), desmin, MyoD1, and myogenin (1 tumor), desmin alone (3 tumors of which only 1 was also tested for MyoD1), or MyoD1 alone (3 tumors). Smooth muscle actin was noted in 6 of 10 tested cases, and 2 of 5 tested cases showed ALK expression. A ZFP64::NCOA3 fusion was detected in 8 tumors, and a ZFP64::NCOA2 fusion was detected in 6 tumors. Methylation studies showed all but 1 tested tumor to form a tight cluster, clearly separate from other RMS subtypes and non-RMS morphologic mimics. Clinical follow-up (10/14 cases; median, 35 months; range, 3-108 months) demonstrated local recurrence in 2 patients and distant metastases in 5 patients (median, 12 months; range, at presentation - 106 months). At the time of last follow-up, 5 patients were alive without evidence of disease, 3 patients were alive with disease, and 2 patients died of disease at 34 and 108 months. We conclude that SCRMS with ZFP64::NCOA2/3 fusions represents a distinct, clinically aggressive sarcoma characterized by fascicular and sometimes round cell morphology, occasional chondro-osseous differentiation, and variable skeletal muscle marker expression. Recognition of this emerging subtype of SCRMS may have prognostic and therapeutic implications.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".