Secretory component in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Secretory component in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and mesothelioma, by A. Kondi-Paphitis, B.J. Addis (Histopathology, 1986).

The study

• Authors: A. Kondi-Paphitis, B.J. Addis
• Journal: Histopathology
• Published: 1986;10(12):1279-87
• Cited by: 19 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The distribution of secretory component was examined by an immunoperoxidase method in 40 pulmonary adenocarcinomas, 11 malignant pleural mesotheliomas and areas of normal lung adjacent to the tumours. Secretory component was demonstrated in tumour cells in 25 (67%) adenocarcinomas. Its presence correlated with the degree of differentiation but was not related to tumour pattern. In the normal lung secretory component can be demonstrated in bronchial ciliated cells, bronchial gland serous cells, bronchiolar epithelium and hyperplastic alveolar epithelium. Although not usually detectable in normal mucous cells it was frequently present in mucin-producing tumours. None of the mesotheliomas examined contained secretory component and this may be an additional useful feature in the differential diagnosis between mesothelioma and adenocarcinoma.

In plain English

This laboratory study, from the Department of Histopathology at Brompton Hospital, London, used a staining method (immunoperoxidase) to look for a protein called secretory component. It examined tissue from 40 consecutive surgically removed primary lung adenocarcinomas, 11 diffuse pleural mesotheliomas, and nearby normal lung. The article does not discuss asbestos exposure. In normal lung, ciliated cells of the airway lining stained, but mesothelial cells did not. Among the adenocarcinomas, staining was seen in 7 of 8 well differentiated tumours, 12 of 16 moderately differentiated tumours, 5 of 13 poorly differentiated tumours, and all 3 bronchioloalveolar carcinomas. The abstract gives the total as 25 (67%), which does not match these group counts. The authors reported that less differentiated tumours tended to lose the protein, and they found no relationship with tumour pattern. None of the 11 mesotheliomas stained. The authors concluded that they would tentatively add this protein to the features that help tell adenocarcinoma from mesothelioma. They noted that their mesothelioma series was small and that earlier reports had found small amounts in some mesotheliomas.

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 (immunohistochemical) study of tumour and lung tissue specimens
• Who was studied: Tissue from 40 consecutive resected primary pulmonary adenocarcinomas and 11 diffuse pleural mesotheliomas (open pleural biopsies, two confirmed at autopsy), plus adjacent normal lung, Department of Histopathology, Brompton Hospital, London. Dates were not given.
• Exposure: Not reported. The article does not examine asbestos or any other exposure; it studied staining of tissue for secretory component.
• Main results:
  • Well differentiated adenocarcinomas: all but one of 8 stained for secretory component; the one negative tumour had a papillary pattern
  • Moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas: four failed to stain, all four with an acinar pattern
  • Poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas: 13 examined; in the five that were positive, staining was confined to the more differentiated areas
  • Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma: all three examples showed focal staining
  • The abstract within the article states that 25 (67%) of the adenocarcinomas stained
  • Increasing loss of differentiation (anaplasia) went with loss of secretory component; no relationship was found with tumour pattern
  • All 11 pleural mesotheliomas, ranging from epithelial to sarcomatous type, were negative
  • In normal lung, ciliated bronchial cells stained consistently and mesothelial cells were negative
• The authors' conclusion: The authors would tentatively add secretory component to d-PAS positive mucin and CEA as features favouring adenocarcinoma over mesothelioma. They regard clearly positive staining as further evidence that a tumour is epithelial.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The conclusion about mesothelioma rests on a small number of mesotheliomas, and earlier reports found that mesotheliomas occasionally produce small amounts of secretory component
  • Staining was hard to judge in mucous cells with only a narrow rim of cytoplasm

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Adenocarcinoma, Mesothelioma, Pleural Mesothelioma, Epithelium, Differential Diagnosis.

Related studies

• Immunoperoxidase localization of secretory component in reactive mesothelium and mesotheliomas — C.S. Ernst, J.J. Brooks (1981)
• Immunohistochemistry in the distinction between malignant mesothelioma and pulmonary adenocarcinoma: a critical evaluation of new antibodies — A.S. Abutaily, B.J. Addis, et al. (2002)
• Identification of DAB2 and Intelectin-1 as Novel Positive Immunohistochemical Markers of Epithelioid Mesothelioma by Transcriptome Microarray Analysis for Its Differentiation From Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma — M. Kuraoka, V.J. Amatya, et al. (2017)
• 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)
• Immunohistochemical distinction of malignant mesothelioma from pulmonary adenocarcinoma with anti-surfactant apoprotein, anti-Lewisa, and anti-Tn antibodies — M. Noguchi, T. Nakajima, et al. (1989)
• Comparison of tumour markers in malignant mesothelioma and pulmonary adenocarcinoma — A.R. Gibbs, R. Harach, et al. (1985)

Browse more research in Histopathology, or return to medical research.