Diagnostic Usefulness of MUC1 and MUC4 for Distinguishing between Metastatic Adenocarcinoma Cells and Reactive Mesothelial Cells in Effusion Cell Blocks

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the diagnostic value of MUC1 and MUC4 for distinguishing between metastatic adenocarcinoma cells (MAC) and reactive mesothelial cells (RMC) in effusion fluids. Study Design: A total of 237 cell block specimens from pleural and peritoneal effusions, including 196 malignant effusions with MAC and 41 benign effusions with RMC, were stained with antibodies against MUC1 and MUC4. Membranous staining with or without cytoplasmic staining was considered to be positive. Results: MUC1 immunoreactivity was observed in 194 (99.0%) of 196 cases of MAC and in 20 (48.8%) of 41 cases of RMC. MUC4 immunoreactivity was observed in 174 (88.8%) of 196 cases of MAC and in 4 (9.8%) of 41 cases of RMC. For distinguishing MAC from RMC, the MUC1 reactivity was found to be 99.0% sensitive and 51.2% specific with a positive predictive value of 90.7% and a negative predictive value of 91.3%. The sensitivity of MUC4 for MAC was 88.8%, the specificity was 90.2%, the negative predictive value was 62.7%, and the positive predictive value was 97.8%. Conclusion: Our data suggest that MUC4 appears to be a sensitive and specific marker for differentiating between MAC and RMC.

Diagnostic Usefulness of Claudin-3 and Claudin-4 for Immunocytochemical Differentiation between Metastatic Adenocarcinoma Cells and Reactive Mesothelial Cells in Effusion Cell Blocks

“…There was minimal consistency in sensitivity and specificity of CEA, Ber-Ep4, MOC-31, and MUC4 in distinguishing MAC from RMC as observed in various studies reported in the literature [6,8,27,28]. The sensitivity ranges from 70.0 to 100%, while the specificity ranges from 51.2 to 100%.…”

“…These included various epithelial markers such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), Ber-Ep4, E-cadherin, MOC-31, and mucins [6,8,19,21,27,28]. However, immunocytochemical staining for these epithelial markers was unable to detect cases with MAC that did not express them.…”

“…Cell block sections, 4 μm, were stained immunocytochemically using a Bond-Max automatic immunostainer (Leica Microsystems, Bannockburn, Ill., USA), as previously described [28]. Briefly, all steps were performed by the automated instrument according to the manufacturer's instructions in the following order: deparaffinization, heat-induced epitope retrieval (antigen unmasking), peroxide block, incubation with claudin-3 (1:500 dilution, rabbit polyclonal; Invitrogen, Camarillo, Calif., USA) and claudin-4 (1:250 dilution, clone 3E2C1; Invitrogen) primary antibodies, color development with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride chromogen, hematoxylin counterstaining, and mounting of the slides.…”

CircWHSC1 promotes ovarian cancer progression by regulating MUC1 and hTERT through sponging miR-145 and miR-1182

“…In addition, Cho et al [25] found that detecting the expression level of MUC1 in ascites can help distinguish between metastatic adenocarcinoma cells and reactive mesothelial cells, with a sensitivity of up to 99% and certain diagnostic value. Similar studies have reported that MUC1 immunoreactivity can be detected in ascites samples from patients with ovarian serous carcinoma and pancreatic cancer [26].…”

Evaluation of Ultrasound-Processed Rapid Cell Blocks in the Cytopathologic Diagnosis of Cavity Fluids

“…Tumor cells usually lose their original arrangement patterns in cell block sections, and most may bear some overlapping features; for example, the morphology of adenocarcinoma and mesothelioma is quite similar [11,12,13]. Therefore, dependable IHC and molecular pathology results are of great value [14,15].…”