Pleural Mesothelioma Publication - 

This is an abstract of an article about mesothelioma and lung adenocarcinoma published at PubMed by the NIH.

TTF-1 and surfactant-B as co-adjuvants in the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and pleural mesothelioma.

Bakir K, Kocer NE, Deniz H, Guldur ME.
Department of Pathology, Gaziantep University, School of Medicine, Turkey. kbakir@hotmail.com
Ann Diagn Pathol. 2004 Dec;8(6):337-41.

Primary lung adenocarcinomas and metastatic adenocarcinomas may show a great morphologic resemblance to malignant mesothelioma. There are numerous immunohistochemical markers being used, but none of them were proved to be effective enough to reach a certain diagnosis.

The current study was performed to evaluate the utility of thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) and surfactant protein-B (SP-B) expression in the differential diagnosis between lung adenocarcinomas and pleural mesotheliomas. In this retrospective study, TTF-1 and SP-B were applied to 30 cases with adenocarcinoma and 15 cases with pleural mesothelioma, immunohistochemically, using an avidin-biotin detection system.

Twenty percent of adenocarcinomas and 13.3% of pleural mesothelioma stained positive for SP-B. TTF-1 stained 24 of the 30 adenocarcinomas (80%) and none of the 15 mesotheliomas (0%). TTF-1 positivity in adenocarcinomas was found to be statistically significant, while SP-B had no important practical value either used alone or in combination with TTF-1. There was no statistically significant correlation between the differentiation level of adenocarcinomas and TTF-1 staining pattern. In conclusion, we believe that TTF-1 may be helpful in distinguishing lung adenocarcinoma from pleural mesothelioma.

Exposure to asbestos is known to cause serious illnesses such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer or asbestosis.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos illness, contact our lawyers today for a free review of your case. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.