Desmosomes of epithelial malignant mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Desmosomes of epithelial malignant mesothelioma, by T.R. Burns, E.H. Johnson, J. Cartwright, et al (Ultrastructural Pathology, 1988).

The study

• Authors: T.R. Burns, E.H. Johnson, J. Cartwright, S.D. Greenberg
• Journal: Ultrastructural Pathology
• Published: 1988;12(4):385-8
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Morphometric examination of desmosomes by electron microscopy may help distinguish epithelial malignant mesotheliomas (EMM) from adenocarcinomas (AC). The lengths of 225 desmosomes from 10 AC and 296 desmosomes from 12 EMM were measured. The mean desmosome length was not significantly different in the two groups. However, only one desmosome greater than 1-micron length was found among the 225 AC desmosomes, whereas seven such "giant" desmosomes were found among 296 EMM desmosomes (p less than 0.001). These long desmosomes ranged up to 4.2 micron in length and involved 4 of 12 cases of EMM. The longest AC desmosome was 1.34 micron. Thus, it is suggested that giant desmosomes be defined as measuring greater than 1 micron in length and that such desmosomes are found much more commonly in EMM than AC and tend to attain greater lengths in EMM.

In plain English

This laboratory study used electron microscopy to measure desmosomes, small structures that join neighboring cells, in tumor tissue from 12 cases of epithelial malignant mesothelioma and 10 cases of adenocarcinoma. Nine adenocarcinomas were from the lung and one was in the abdomen, of unknown origin. The authors measured 296 mesothelioma desmosomes and 225 adenocarcinoma desmosomes. Average length did not differ significantly between the groups (0.330 micrometers in mesothelioma versus 0.220 in adenocarcinoma). However, seven desmosomes longer than 1 micrometer were found among the 296 mesothelioma desmosomes, compared with one among the 225 adenocarcinoma desmosomes (p less than 0.001). The seven long ones came from four of the twelve mesothelioma cases, the longest measuring 4.20 micrometers. The long adenocarcinoma desmosome measured 1.34 micrometers. The authors proposed defining 'giant' desmosomes as longer than 1 micrometer. They concluded that a single giant desmosome cannot be considered diagnostic of mesothelioma, but is much more likely in mesothelioma than adenocarcinoma. They said a larger study would be needed to confirm that the longest desmosomes occur only in mesothelioma. The article does not discuss asbestos exposure.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Comparative ultrastructural (electron microscopy) morphometric study of tumor tissue; desmosome lengths measured by hand ruler on prints and compared with Fisher's exact test
• Who was studied: 12 cases of epithelial malignant mesothelioma and 10 cases of adenocarcinoma (9 from lung, 1 abdominal of unknown primary origin). 7 mesothelioma and 3 adenocarcinoma cases had been studied previously by the same group. Authors at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; study dates not stated
• Main results:
  • Seven desmosomes longer than 1 micrometer were found among 296 mesothelioma desmosomes, versus one among 225 adenocarcinoma desmosomes (p less than 0.001)
  • The seven long mesothelioma desmosomes came from four of twelve mesothelioma cases; five were longer than 1.5 micrometers and the longest measured 4.20 micrometers
  • The one long adenocarcinoma desmosome measured 1.34 micrometers
  • Mean desmosome length was not significantly different: 0.220 micrometers in adenocarcinoma versus 0.330 micrometers in mesothelioma (p greater than 0.05)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors suggested defining giant desmosomes as longer than 1 micrometer. They concluded that a single giant desmosome cannot be considered diagnostic of epithelial malignant mesothelioma, but is much more likely to be found in mesothelioma than in adenocarcinoma
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors' impression that desmosomes longer than 1 to 1.5 micrometers occur only in mesothelioma and not adenocarcinoma would need a larger study to confirm

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Malignant Mesothelioma, Adenocarcinoma.

Related studies

• Giant desmosomes in tumors — F.N. Ghadially, P.U. Rippstein, et al. (1995)
• Ultrastructural diagnosis of epithelial malignant mesothelioma — T.R. Burns, S.D. Greenberg, et al. (1985)
• Immunohistochemical panels for differentiating epithelial malignant mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma: a study with logistic regression analysis — R. Carella, G. Deleonardi, et al. (2001)
• Value of the Ber-EP4 antibody in differentiating epithelial pleural mesothelioma from adenocarcinoma. The M.D. Anderson experience and a critical review of the literature — N.G. Ordóñez (1998)
• Calretinin, thrombomodulin, CEA, and CD15: a useful combination of immunohistochemical markers for differentiating pleural epithelial mesothelioma from peripheral pulmonary adenocarcinoma — C.E. Comin, L. Novelli, et al. (2001)
• Value of the MOC-31 monoclonal antibody in differentiating epithelial pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma — N.G. Ordóñez (1998)

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