title: Thomsen-Friedenreich and its precursor (Tn) antigen expression in normal skin and in benign cutaneous tumours: a marker for sebaceous differentiation.
abstract: The Thomsen-Friedenreich (T) antigen is the core disaccharide of cancer-associated carbohydrates, whose expression allegedly correlates with the prognosis of some carcinomas. We studied the expression of the T antigen and its precursor (Tn) with monoclonal antibodies in formalin-fixed specimens of normal skin and various benign cutaneous tumours and inflammatory lesions (n: 105). In normal skin, both antigens were consistently expressed within the cytoplasm of mature sebocytes and rarely over the luminal surface of secretory sweat gland cells. All (21/21) sebaceous tumours showed strong T/Tn positivity; several (9/16) sweat-gland tumours were also immunoreactive, although more weakly. Pilar (n = 11), non-adnexal tumours (n = 45) and inflammatory lesions (n = 12) were as a rule unreactive. These results suggest that the T antigen is a sensitive marker of sebaceous differentiation that can be used for the study of adnexal skin tumours in routinely processed tissue specimens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanitakis
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: al-Rifai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faure
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Claudy
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000032:analysis*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D012626:Sebaceous Gland Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D012627:Sebaceous Glands / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C016467:Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen