title: MUC4 as a diagnostic marker in cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mucins are high molecular mass glycoproteins whose role in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy is being increasingly recognized owing to their altered expression in a variety of carcinomas. MUC4, a membrane-bound mucin encoded by a gene located on chromosome locus 3q29, is aberrantly expressed in several cancers including those of the bile duct, breast, colon, esophagus, ovary, lung, prostate, stomach and pancreas.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This review considers the potential use of the MUC4 expression pattern in the diagnosis and prognosis of various cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MUC4 expression is a specific marker of epithelial tumors and its expression correlates positively with the degree of differentiation in several cancers. Importantly, MUC4 has emerged as a specific marker of dysplasia, being expressed in the earliest dysplastic lesions preceding several malignancies, including lethal pancreatic cancer. The presence of MUC4-specific antibodies in the serum and of the transcript in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of cancer patients raises the possibility of it emerging as a new diagnostic biomarker for bedside application in high-risk individuals and those with established cancer.
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska Medical Center, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 984525 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5870, USA +1 402 559 5455 ; +1 402 559 6650 ; sbatra@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Subhankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: Maneesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sasson
authors.forename: Surinder K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Batra