Evaluation of the diagnostic value of BSND protein for preliminary screening of salivary gland oncocytic tumors

doi:10.19438/j.cjoms.2026.04.006

Abstract

Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of Barttin CLCNK type accessory subunit beta (BSND) protein as a preliminary screening marker for the differential diagnosis of salivary gland oncocytic tumors, and to preliminarily explore the association between BSND expression and gene mutations. METHODS: A total of 136 salivary gland tumor tissue samples were collected. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect BSND protein expression and to assess its differential expression among tumors, including oncocytoma, Warthin tumor, oncocytic mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), and Warthin-like MEC. The diagnostic performance of BSND was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was conducted on 58 samples to detect BSND gene mutations. RESULTS: The positive rate of BSND expression was 100% (20/20) in oncocytoma and 93.75% (15/16) in Warthin tumor, whereas it was only 2% (2/100) in other salivary gland tumors with oncocytic subtypes. In distinguishing benign from malignant salivary gland tumors with oncocytic differentiation, BSND demonstrated a specificity of 98.8% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.792. For differentiating oncocytoma from oncocytic MEC, the sensitivity and specificity were 95.0% and 88.2%, respectively, with an AUC of 0.992. For differentiating Warthin tumor from Warthin-like MEC, the sensitivity and specificity were 87.5% and 90.0%, respectively, with an AUC of 0.963. NGS results revealed no significant correlation between BSND protein expression and gene mutations. ROC analysis further suggested that a diagnostic threshold of 2.5% for Warthin tumor and 35% for oncocytoma yielded high diagnostic efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: BSND can serve as a protein marker for differentiating salivary gland oncocytoma from oncocytic MEC, and Warthin tumor from Warthin-like MEC. It represents a useful preliminary screening indicator for the differential diagnosis of oncocytic tumors. Gene mutation is not the molecular mechanism underlying BSND overexpression in salivary gland tumors.

Key words: Oncocytoma, Warthin tumor, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, Salivary gland, BSND, Immunohistochemistry, Differential diagnosis

CLC Number:

R739.8

Leng Nannan, Wang Min, Sun Jingjing, Gu Ting, Hu Yuhua, Xia Ronghui, Zhang Chunye, Li Jiang, Tian Zhen. Evaluation of the diagnostic value of BSND protein for preliminary screening of salivary gland oncocytic tumors[J]. China Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2026, 24(4): 353-360.

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