IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF CA19-9 AND SPAN-1 IN CASES OF HYDRONEPHROSIS

Although the serum level of carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is reported ly increased in patients with hydronephrosis, virtually no immunohisto chemical studies of this condition have been performed. Therefore, we examined immunohistochemically 11 hydronephrotic kidneys and 3 normal control kidneys using antibodies against CA19-9 and SPan-1, another si alylated carbohydrate antigen. Immunoreactivity for CA19-9 was seen in the transitional and tubular epithelia in most of the hydronephrotic kidneys (9 of the 11 cases), and also detected in 2 of the 3 control s pecimens, although there the distribution appeared to be limited. SPan -1 immunoreactivity showed the same trend. CA19-9 and SPan-1 immunorea ctivity in hydronephrosis appeared to be more widely distributed than in controls, although its mechanism remains unclear.