Summary. H3F3A mutations and the expression of glycine 34 to tryptophan (G34W) mutants in giant cell tumors of bone (GCTBs) and other bone tumors were detected to compare H3F3A mutation types and the expression of G34W-mutant protein in order to provide a theoretical basis for using H3F3A mutations as a diagnostic and differential-diagnostic tool for GCTBs. A total of 366 bone tumor cases were investigated. The cases involved 215 men and 151 women, whose median age was 29 years (3-84). The cases included GCTB (n=180), recurrent GCTB (n=19), GCTB with lung metastasis (n=5), pediatric GCTB (n=15), primary malignant GCTB (n=5), chondroblastoma (CB, n=61), chondrosarcoma grade II (n=15), dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma (n=17), chondromyxoid fibroma (n=9), aneurysmal bone cyst (n=9), nonossifying fibroma (n=9), osteosarcoma (n=16), and undifferentiated sarcoma (n=6). Sanger DNA sequencing analysis was used to detect H3F3A mutations. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of the G34W-mutated protein in these bone tumors. DNA sequencing results revealed H3F3A mutations in 95.00% of GCTBs (171/180), including glycine 34 to tryptophan (G34W, 163/180, 90.56%), glycine 34 to leucine (G34L, 3/180, 1.67%), glycine 34 to valine (G34V, 3/180, 1.67%), and glycine 34 to arginine (G34R, 2/180, 1.11%). Recurrent GCTBs mostly had the H3F3A G34W mutation (18/19, 94.74%), and GCTBs with lung metastasis all had the H3F3A G34W mutation (5/5, 100%). Pediatric GCTBs had a mutation rate of 93.33% (14/15), including one case with G34L. Four cases of primary malignant GCTB showed the H3F3A G34W mutation (4/5, 80.00%), and the classical GCTB component and malignant component showed consistent mutation types. Immunohistochemistry showed that GCTBs harboring G34W also expressed the mutant protein in tumor cell nuclei. Furthermore, one case of GCTB and one case of recurrent GCTB showed positive G34W immunostaining results despite being negative for the genetic mutation. Other bone tumors all showed wild-type expression in both DNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry. Our large-sample DNA sequencing analysis detected four different forms of mutations in GCTBs, including three rare mutation forms. The most common mutation of H3F3A was G34W, which was in accordance with the expression of G34W in GCTBs detected by immunohistochemistry. Although DNA sequencing analysis detected rare mutation types of H3F3A, false-negative results were also present due to the small number of cells in the samples. Detection of the most common (G34W) mutant protein by immunohistochemistry was more convenient. Given the high prevalence of these driver mutations, the detection of H3F3A mutant proteins can assist in the diagnosis of GCTB and its differential diagnosis from other bone tumors. Histol Histopathol 36, 61-68 (2021)

Key words: Giant cell tumors of bone, H3F3A, G34W, Mutation, Immunohistochemistry, Differential diagnosis, Ancillary testing

DOI: 10.14670/HH-18-264

©The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY International License.