Immunohistochemistry of Gross Cystic Disease Fluid Protein (GCDFP-15) in 65 Benign Sweat Gland Tumors of the Skin

Is apocrine differentiation in breast carcinoma of prognostic significance?

“…A previous study (Bundred et al, 1987a) has shown that staining of tumour cells with an antiserum to zinc M2 glycoprotein is a reliable immunohistochemical marker of apocrine differentiation in tumours. Workers using an antibody to another cyst protein, GCDFP 15, have confirmed that tumour apocrine differentiation can be objectively diagnosed using immunohistochemistry and found an incidence of 50-80% of tumours exhibiting some degree of apocrine change (Mazoujian et al, 1983;Miller et al, 1988;Le Dousal et al, 1985). The incidence of 55% of tumours exhibiting staining in this study is in broad agreement with these figures.…”

“…However, using immunohistochemical techniques employing antibodies to proteins found in apocrine secretions (breast cyst proteins), more recent studies (Mazoujian et al, 1983;Bundred et al, 1987a) have suggested that 40-50% of unselected carcinomas exhibited apocrine differentiation, and have demonstrated a good correlation between staining and histological criteria.…”

Differential antibody reactivity and CD4 binding of the mammary tumor marker protein GCDFP-15 from breast cyst and its counterparts from exocrine epithelia

“…One of the major components is a protein of 15 kDa termed gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 (GCDFP-15) (Haagensen et al, 1990). This protein constitutes a marker of apocrine epithelium and has been localized in non-neoplastic breast tissue with apocrine metaplasia and in breast carcinomas with apocrine features (Mazoujian et al, 1983). Detectable levels of GCDFP-15 may also be present in ''non-apocrine'' tissues, which phylogenetically have biological features in common with apocrine glands (Mazoujian et al, 1983), as the serous cells of the submandibular salivary gland, submucosal glands of the bronchi and accessory lacrimal glands.…”

Analysis of tissue- and hormone-specific regulation of the human prolactin-inducible protein/gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 gene in transgenic mice

“…In human breast cancer cell lines, the gene is regulated by a number of hormones including prolactin, estrogen, dexamethasone and cytokines, but is maximally up-regulated by androgen (Murphy et al 1987, Simard et al 1989, Blais et al 1996. PIP/GCDFP-15 has also been detected in normal human tissues, particularly those apocrine in origin such as the Moll's gland of eyelids and the minor bronchial glands and in the secretions of the lacrimal and salivary glands; however, it is not expressed in the normal mammary gland (Mazoujian et al 1983, Haagensen & Mazoujian 1986, Murphy et al 1987, Mazoujian & Margolis 1988. It is not known whether the expression of the human PIP/GCDFP-15 gene in any of these normal tissues is under similar hormonal control as that observed in the human breast cancer cell lines.…”