Asbestos Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Asbestos, including details on mesothelioma, lung disease, dangers, effects, risks.

Podoplanin as a marker for mesothelioma.

Kimura N, Kimura I

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tohoku Rosai Hospital, Japan Labor Health and Welfare Organization, 21-3-4 Dainohara Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8563, Japan. nkimura-path@tohokuh.rofuku.go.jp

Podoplanin is a specific marker for lymph vessel endothelial cells. It was noted that podoplanin is expressed in reactive mesothelial cells. The utility of podoplanin for the histological diagnosis of tumors was then investigated, especially for mesothelioma. Immunohistochemical study of podoplanin was carried out in five malignant mesotheliomas and 118 other tumors including 93 adenocarcinomas, four squamous cell carcinomas, six gastrointestinal stromal tumors and five endocrine tumors. Immunoreactivity for podoplanin was demonstrated on the cell membrane of tumor cells for all mesotheliomas. All other tumors were negative for podoplanin. Among the many antibodies used for differential diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma, podoplanin has the potential to be an excellent tumor marker in both specificity and sensitivity. The utility of podoplanin as a marker for mesothelioma will be confirmed by further studies.

Published 7 February 2005 in Pathol Int, 55(2): 83-6.
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