FABP1 expression in human tumors: a tissue microarray study on 17,071 tumors

Fatty acid–binding proteins (FABPs) play a pivotal role in the metabolism of fatty acids and are expressed in a tissue-specific manner. FABP1 is most abundantly expressed in the liver where it accounts for about 10% of the total cytosolic protein and is thought to have diagnostic utility. To comprehensively determine FABP1 expression in normal and neoplastic tissues, a tissue microarray containing 17,071 samples from 150 different tumor types and subtypes as well as 608 samples of 76 different normal tissue types was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Among normal tissues, a strong FABP1 immunostaining was observed in hepatocytes, proximal tubuli of the kidney and epithelium of small intestine, appendix, and the colorectum. FABP1 positivity was found in 24 of 150 tumor categories, including 17 tumor categories with at least 1 strongly positive case. The highest FABP1 positivity rates were seen in colorectal adenomas (86%), in colorectal adenocarcinomas (71.1%), and in hepatocellular carcinomas (65.3%), followed by mucinous carcinoma of the ovary (34.6%), cholangiocarcinoma (21.6%), and various adenocarcinomas from the digestive tract (10–23%). Eleven additional entities had positivity rates between 0.2 and 6.5%. FABP1 staining was not seen in 169 primary adenocarcinomas of the lung. In colorectal cancer, reduced FABP1 expression was linked to poor-grade, right-sided tumor location, microsatellite instability (p < 0.0001 each), and absence of BRAF V600E mutations (p = 0.001), but unrelated to pT and pN status. FABP1 expression has considerably high tumor specificity. As FABP1 expression was virtually absent in adenocarcinomas of the lung, FABP1 immunohistochemistry might be particularly helpful to assist in the identification of metastatic colorectal or gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma to the lung. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00428-022-03394-5.