Chapter 15 A study of epithelial, neuroendocrine and natural killer cell antibodies in adult lung and lung tumours

• Published in: Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 70 - 72
• Main Authors: Sheppard, M.N., Morittu, L., Moss, F., Addis, B., Corrin, B., Sinah, G., Souham, R.L., Bobrow, L.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.05.1988
• ISSN: 0169-5002; 1872-8332
• DOI: 10.1016/S0169-5002(88)80017-5

Lung tumour prognosis and therapy is determined by the histological tumour type. While squamous cell and adeno-carcinomas are best treated surgically small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is often widely disseminated at the time of diagnosis and responds best to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Yet for lung cancer, the basic classification into squamous, small cell, adenocarcinoma and large cell has been further subdivided into more complex classifications which has led to confusion among pathologists. With the use of immunocytochemistry, antigen expression in pulmonary neoplasms has been examined to see if these can assist in histological classification and prognosis. Most of these studies have involved a limited number of antibodies and tumours. In the present study, formalin fixed material from 81 lung tumours has been examined with a panel of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against epithelial, neuroendocrine and natural killer cell antigens, to establish whether different patterns of antigen expression exist in lung tumours and whether these antibodies in normal lung structures have prognostic significance. The pattern of immunostaining of these in normal lung structures has also been studied.