This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nishiumi, N. Articles by Nakamura, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nishiumi, N. Articles by Nakamura, M.

Use of 11p15 Mucins as Prognostic Factors in Small Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

¹ Departments of General Thoracic Surgery and
² Pathology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa;
³ Department of Respiratory Disease, National Kanagawa Hospital, Hadano, Kanagawa; and
⁴ Laboratory of Pathology, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

Purpose: Patients with small adenocarcinoma of the lung (SACL) generally have a good prognosis. However, some SACL cases show lymph node metastasis, with poor prognosis. The expression pattern of 11p15 mucins (clustered on the p15 arm of the chromosome 11) is known to change during carcinogenesis in lung cancer.

Experimental Design: We evaluated the expression of the 11p15 mucins (MUC2, MUC5AC, and MUC6) in 79 surgical specimens of SACL cases by immunohistochemical analysis. Lymph node metastasis was estimated by pathological staging.

Results: Six (7.6%) and 11 (13.9%) of the 79 SACL cases showed MUC2 and MUC6 expression, respectively. Three SACL cases showed both MUC2 and MUC6 expression, and a significant correlation was found between MUC2 and MUC6 expression (Fisher’s test, P = 0.033). Six (7.6%) SACL cases showed MUC5AC expression. Five of the 6 cases with MUC2 expression and 6 of the 11 cases with MUC6 expression were had lymph node metastasis. SACL cases with MUC2 or MUC6 expression showed a significantly higher incidence of nodal metastasis than those without expression (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, ² test, respectively). There was no significant correlation between MUC5AC expression and nodal involvement in SACL, whereas three of the six cases with MUC5AC expression showed lymph node metastasis. The SACL cases with MUC2 expression had a significantly poorer prognosis than those without MUC2 expression (P = 0.011, log-rank test).

Conclusions: These results suggest that 11p15 mucins MUC2 and MUC6 are related to lymph node metastasis in SACL.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Freire, R. Lo-Man, F. Piller, V. Piller, C. Leclerc, and S. Bay Enzymatic large-scale synthesis of MUC6-Tn glycoconjugates for antitumor vaccination Glycobiology, May 1, 2006; 16(5): 390 - 401. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]