title: CD24: a potential new marker in differentiating malignant mesothelioma from pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The differential diagnosis between malignant mesothelioma (MM) and metastatic lung adenocarcinoma (MLA) often relies on immunohistochemical studies, with no individual immunomarker holding satisfactory discrimination ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of CD24 immunoreactivity on 134 patients including 69 cases of MM and 65 MLA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of CD24 favoured MLA, with 57/65 cases showing positive cytoplasmic staining compared with 9/69 MM (p<0.001), whose immunopositivity pattern was prevalently membranous (7/9 cases).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CD24 positivity can accurately discriminate MM from MLA. Prospective studies are warranted to clarify whether CD24 could integrate with other immunomarkers to facilitate the diagnosis of mesothelial malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Imperial Center for Translational and Experimental Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pinato
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nya
authors.forename: Rohini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Francesco A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Mauri
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D051927:CD24 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051927:CD24 Antigen; C497889:CD24 protein, human