Differential MUC 1 expression in normal and neoplastic human pancreatic tissue - An immunohistochemical study of 60 samples

Neoplastic transformation of epithelial cells is commonly associated with a ltered synthesis of mucin glycoproteins. Few studies have been performed on the correlation between MUC I expression and pancreatic carcinoma using im munohistochemical methods. We compared the patterns of MUC I expression in normal pancreatic tissue, in pancreatic carcinoma, and in chronic pancreati tis. Immunohistochemical studies were performed using 3 monoclonal anti-MUG I antibodies (12C10, 1G5, and H23) on surgical specimens and on fine-needl e aspiration biopsy specimens. In the neoplastic cells from adenocarcinomas , high levels of cytoplasmic MUC I expression were observed, with some memb rane staining. No such cytoplasmic expression was observed in normal tissue , tissue from chronic pancreatitis, or benign neoplastic tissue. These data show conspicuous quantitative and qualitative differences between the patt erns of MUC I expression observed in nonmalignant vs malignant pancreatic t issue and may be useful in the histologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma in bi opsy samples.