Diagnostic value of monoclonal antibody B72.3 in detecting adenocarcinoma cells in serous effusions

Our plain-English summary of Diagnostic value of monoclonal antibody B72.3 in detecting adenocarcinoma cells in serous effusions, by A.F. Lauritzen (APMIS, 1989).

The study

• Author: A.F. Lauritzen
• Journal: APMIS
• Published: 1989;97(8):761-6
• Cited by: 20 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

In serous effusions, the cytologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, and its distinction from mesothelial hyperplasia and malignant mesothelioma, is still difficult. This study compares the immunoreactivity of antibody B72.3 with that of anti-CEA, anti-LeuM1-antigen and anti-keratins in 41 serous effusions from patients with different malignant disorders. B72.3 selectively stained adenocarcinoma cells in 80% of the cases and was as good as anti-CEA and superior to anti-LeuM1-antigen and anti-keratins. It is concluded that B72.3 forms a useful supplement to conventional cytomorphology in the distinction between adenocarcinoma cells, reactive mesothelial cells and malignant mesothelial cells in serous effusions.

In plain English

This laboratory study, by a Copenhagen pathologist, tested whether an antibody stain, B72.3, could distinguish adenocarcinoma cells from reactive (non-cancerous) and malignant mesothelial cells in fluid from around the lungs, abdomen or heart. The author examined 41 fluid samples (26 pleural, 13 ascitic, 2 pericardial) from patients with various cancers: 29 adenocarcinomas, 3 malignant mesotheliomas, 3 malignant melanomas and 6 small cell lung carcinomas. B72.3 was compared with three other stains: anti-CEA, anti-LeuM1-antigen and anti-keratins. B72.3 stained adenocarcinoma cells in 80% of cases, against 84% for anti-CEA, 60% for anti-LeuM1-antigen and 76% for anti-keratins. Although the article does not say so, these percentages equal Table 1's counts of 20, 21, 15 and 19 stained effusions divided by the 25 adenocarcinoma effusions it lists as "positive", not by all 29. B72.3, anti-CEA and anti-LeuM1-antigen stained neither reactive nor malignant mesothelial cells. Anti-keratins stained malignant mesothelial cells in all three mesothelioma cases. The author concluded that B72.3 was a useful supplement to routine microscopy, as good as anti-CEA and better than the other two stains. Asbestos is not mentioned.

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: Laboratory diagnostic study comparing antibody stains (immunocytochemistry) on fluid samples from cancer patients
• Who was studied: 41 effusions (26 pleural, 13 ascitic, 2 pericardial) sent for routine examination at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen. They came from patients with various cancers whose primary site had been confirmed by surgical biopsy: 29 adenocarcinomas (10 breast, 10 ovary, 2 gastric, 1 endometrial, 6 lung), 3 malignant mesotheliomas, 3 malignant melanomas and 6 small cell anaplastic lung carcinomas. Dates are not given.
• Exposure: Not an asbestos exposure study. What was tested was a panel of four antibody stains: monoclonal antibody B72.3, anti-CEA, anti-LeuM1-antigen and anti-keratins. These were applied to cytospin preparations and paraffin sections of each effusion.
• Main results:
  • Adenocarcinoma effusions: B72.3 stained adenocarcinoma cells in 80% of cases. Table 1's total row lists 20 B72.3-positive effusions among the 29 adenocarcinoma effusions, 25 of which it lists as "positive". The 80% equals 20 divided by 25. That calculation is worked out from Table 1 and is not stated in the text.
  • Adenocarcinoma effusions: anti-CEA stained adenocarcinoma cells in 84% of cases and anti-LeuM1-antigen in 60%. Table 1 lists 21 and 15 stain-positive effusions. These percentages equal those counts divided by Table 1's 25 "positive" effusions, a calculation worked out from the table.
  • Adenocarcinoma effusions: anti-keratins stained adenocarcinoma cells in 76% of cases (Table 1 lists 19 keratin-positive effusions). The staining pattern differed from that seen in mesothelial cells.
  • B72.3, anti-CEA and anti-LeuM1-antigen did not stain reactive mesothelial cells or malignant mesothelial cells.
  • Malignant mesothelioma effusions: anti-keratins stained malignant mesothelial cells in each of the three cases.
  • All effusions contained reactive mesothelial cells. In 38 cases these cells showed strong perinuclear keratin staining. None reacted with anti-CEA, anti-LeuM1-antigen or B72.3.
  • Malignant melanoma cells and small cell anaplastic carcinoma cells did not react with any of the four antibodies.
  • B72.3 staining in cytospin preparations was equal to that in paraffin-embedded sections.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that B72.3 is a useful supplement to conventional cytomorphology for distinguishing adenocarcinoma cells, reactive mesothelial cells and malignant mesothelial cells in serous effusions. The author judged it as good as anti-CEA and superior to anti-LeuM1-antigen and anti-keratins.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Monoclonal Antibody, B72.3 (TAG-72), Adenocarcinoma, Reactive Mesothelial Hyperplasia, Malignant Mesothelioma, Reactive Mesothelial Cells, Mesothelial Cells.

Related studies

• Value of the MOC-31 monoclonal antibody in differentiating epithelial pleural mesothelioma from lung adenocarcinoma — N.G. Ordóñez (1998)
• Ber-EP4 for differentiating adenocarcinoma from reactive and neoplastic mesothelial cells in serous effusions. Comparison with carcinoembryonic antigen, B72.3 and Leu-M1 — M.E. Bailey, R.W. Brown, et al. (1996)
• Immunocytochemical staining of serous effusions with the monoclonal antibody Ber-EP4 — M. De Angelis, I.D. Buley, et al. (1992)
• Utility of HBME-1 immunostaining in serous effusions — V. Ascoli, C. Carnovale-Scalzo, et al. (1997)
• Monoclonal antibody SM047 as an immunohistochemical marker of ovarian adenocarcinoma — W.G. McCluggage, P. Maxwell, 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)

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