Immunohistochemical evaluation of seven monoclonal antibodies for differentiation of pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract

A panel of seven monoclonal antibodies including anti‐vimentin, anti‐keratin markers AE1/AE3 and EAB902, human milk fat globule (HMFG‐2), B72.3, anti‐carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and anti‐Leu‐M1 were used for an immunoperoxidase staining assay to determine their value in the differentiation of pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma. Anti‐vimentin positively identified 86% of the mesotheliomas and none of the adenocarcinomas. AE1/AE3, EAB902, and B72.3 reacted with a high percentage of both mesothelioma and adenocarcinoma specimens. With HMFG‐2, both membrane and cytoplasmic staining was observed in 92% of the adenocarcinomas and in 14% of the mesotheliomas, whereas 26% of the mesotheliomas only exhibited membrane staining. Eighty percent of the adenocarcinomas and 8% of the mesothelioma tissues stained with anti‐Leu‐M1. Anti‐CEA did not react with any of the 50 mesotheliomas tested but did react with 95% of the lung adenocarcinomas tested. From this study, it was concluded that anti‐CEA and anti‐Leu‐M1 were the most effective of the seven tumor markers evaluated; and that 100% of the pleural mesothelioma tissues could be correctly differentiated from lung adenocarcinomas using a panel consisting of anti‐vimentin, HMFG‐2, anti‐CEA and anti‐Leu‐M1 monoclonal antibodies. Copyright © 1991 American Cancer Society