{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,11]],"date-time":"2026-07-11T23:44:22Z","timestamp":1783813462837,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]],"date-time":"2026-03-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773360000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) and cutaneous undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (cUPS)\/pleomorphic dermal sarcoma (PDS) are related dermal neoplasms of uncertain histogenesis that occupy opposite ends of a shared clinical and histopathologic spectrum, with AFX displaying typically low-grade behavior and PDS representing its more aggressive counterpart. The recent literature has confirmed that AFX and PDS also overlap at the molecular and genomic levels; however, little is known about their gene-expression profiles. Methods: We performed gene-expression profiling using RNA sequencing with a Pan-Cancer RNA Panel on a small series of AFX and PDS samples. Results: Unsupervised cluster analysis showed a clear separation between the two groups. We confirmed a TP53 UV-radiation signature in both. However, while AFX and PDS share common DNA mutation profiles in our cohort, RNA sequencing reveals distinct gene-expression signatures that may aid in differentiating these related tumors. In particular, the MAPK pathway, cell adhesion, DNA repair, EMT-like signatures and inflammatory responses play key roles in distinguishing the two groups, at least in our limited cohort, consistent with their differing biological behavior. Differences in the expression of receptor tyrosine kinases were also observed. Conclusions: Gene-expression profiling have the potential to be a valuable tool for distinguishing AFX from PDS, clarifying their positions at opposite ends of a spectrum and providing deeper insight into the biology of these neoplasms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers18060934","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]],"date-time":"2026-03-13T08:26:19Z","timestamp":1773390379000},"page":"934","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Gene Expression Profile (GEP) Comparison of Atypical Fibroxanthoma (AFX) and Pleomorphic Dermal Sarcoma (PDS)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5352-0662","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessio","family":"Giubellino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA"},{"name":"Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0325-4316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gerardo","family":"Cazzato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-5116-2484","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mario","family":"Della Mura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Molecular Pathology, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2576-6523","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Broggi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies \u201cG.F. Ingrassia\u201d, Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, 95131 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5257-8678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Rizzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Istituto Tumori \u201cGiovanni Paolo II\u201d, 70124 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nehaaluddin","family":"Azmi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7422-0661","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos A.","family":"Torres-Cabala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0492-2339","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah","family":"Munro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Faqian","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1111\/cup.13787","article-title":"Atypical fibroxanthoma and pleomorphic dermal sarcoma: A reappraisal","volume":"48","author":"Cesinaro","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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