title: Mucin-1 and its relation to grade, stage and survival in ovarian carcinoma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mucin-1 is known to be over-expressed by various human carcinomas and is shed into the circulation where it can be detected in patient's serum by specific anti-Mucin-1 antibodies, such as the tumour marker assays CA 15-3 and CA 27.29. The prognostic value of Mucin-1 expression in ovarian carcinoma remains uncertain. One aim of this study was to compare the concentrations of Mucin-1 in a cohort of patients with either benign or malignant ovarian tumours detected by CA 15-3 and CA 27.29. Another aim of this study was to evaluate Mucin-1 expression by immunohistochemistry in a different cohort of ovarian carcinoma patients with respect to grade, stage and survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients diagnosed with and treated for ovarian tumours were included in the study. Patient characteristics, histology including histological subtype, tumour stage, grading and follow-up data were available from patient records. Serum Mucin-1 concentrations were measured with ELISA technology detecting CA 15-3 and CA 27.29, Mucin-1 tissue expression was determined by immunohistochemistry using the VU4H5 and VU3C6 anti-Mucin-1 antibodies. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 18.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum samples of 118 patients with ovarian tumours were obtained to determine levels of Mucin-1. Median CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 concentrations were significantly higher in patients with malignant disease (p< 0.001) than in patients with benign disease.Paraffin-embedded tissue of 154 patients with ovarian carcinoma was available to determine Mucin-1 expression. The majority of patients presented with advanced stage disease at primary diagnosis. Median follow-up time was 11.39 years. Immunohistochemistry results for VU4H5 showed significant differences with respect to tumour grade, FIGO stage and overall survival. Patients with negative expression had a mean overall survival of 9.33 years compared to 6.27 years for patients with positive Mucin-1 expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found significantly elevated Mucin-1 serum concentrations in ovarian carcinoma patients as compared to those women suffering from benign ovarian diseases. However, it needs to be noted that Mucin-1 concentrations in carcinoma patients showed a rather high variability. Results from immunohistochemistry indicate that Mucin-1 has a prognostic relevance in ovarian carcinomas when evaluating the expression by VU4H5 antibody.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cologne, Kerpener Straße 34, Cologne, 50931, Germany. verena.engelstaedter@uk-koeln.de
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Engelstaedter
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heublein
authors.forename: Anamur Lan
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenhard
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engelstaedter
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Andergassen
authors.forename: Margit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guenthner-Biller
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rack
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kupka
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mayr
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jeschke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D018396:Mucin-1