Comprehensive evaluation of caspase-14 in vulvar neoplasia: An opportunity for treatment with black raspberry extract

Objective. The aim of this study is to determine the expression of caspase-14, a key protein in maturation of squamous epithelia, in archival malignant and premalignant vulvar squamous lesions and examine in-vitro effects of a black raspberry extract (BRB-E) on a vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) cell line. Methods. VSCC cell cultures were exposed to different BRB-E concentrations and used to create cell blocks. Immunohistochemistry for caspase-14 was performed on cell block sections, whole tissue sections, and a tissue microarray consisting of normal vulvar skin, lichen sclerosus (LS), classic and differentiated vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (cVIN and dVIN respectively), and VSCC. Results. LS demonstrated abnormal full thickness (5/11) or absent (1/11) caspase-14 staining. dVIN often showed markedly reduced expression (4/7), and cVIN occasionally demonstrated either absent or reduced caspase-14 (6/22). VSCC predominantly had absent or markedly reduced caspase-14 (26/28). VSCC cell cultures demonstrated a significant increase in caspase-14 (p = 0.013) after BRB-E treatment: 73% (+/- 2.0%) of untreated cells showed caspase-14 positivity, while 21.3% (+/- 8.9%), 21.7% (+/- 4.8%), and 22.6% (+/- 5.3%) of cells were positive for caspase-14 after treatment with 200, 400, and 800 mu g/mL BRB-E, respectively. Pair-wise comparisons between the treatment groups and the control demonstrated significant differences between no treatment with BRB-E and each of these treatment concentrations (Dunnett's adjusted p-values: 0.024, 0.021, and 0.014, respectively). Conclusions. Caspase-14 is frequently decreased in premalignant and malignant vulvar squamous lesions, and is upregulated in VSCC cell culture by BRB-E. BRB-E should be further explored and may ultimately be incorporated in topical preparations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.