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Polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM) epitopes in the estimation of the sequence of neoplastic changes in colon
B Slesak1, A Harlozinska, J Lapinska
1Department of Tumor Immunology, Silesian Piast's Medical Academy, Wroclaw, Poland.
Aims:
The relation between the expression of PEM epitopes and the sequence of neoplastic changes in individual patients with colon adenocarcinoma was investigated.
Methods:
Immunohistochemical staining was performed using four monoclonal antibodies to PEM epitopes (139H2, 140C1, 115D8, 115F5) on tissue sections from frankly malignant lesions, adjacent mucosa, colonic mucosa taken 1 cm and 5 cm from the lesion and normal control mucosa.
Results:
A clear correlation between PEM expression and the site of mucosa sampling was demonstrated. The expression of PEM molecules defined by all studied monoclonal antibodies was highest in colon adenocarcinoma, similar but slightly weaker in adjacent mucosa and colon mucosa taken 1 cm from the frankly malignant lesion, lowest in mucosa 5 cm from the lesion, and virtually absent in control normal colonic mucosa.
Conclusions:
The immunological changes could be one of the first signs of a premalignant process and the estimation of PEM epitopes could show some cellular abnormalities not detectable by standard pathomorphological criteria.