Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8
pubmed:dateCreated
1992-11-9
pubmed:abstractText
Thymic carcinomas arising within a thymoma have been reported, but the relationship between thymoma and thymic carcinoma is poorly understood. Epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) is known to be an effective marker for establishing the epithelial nature of neoplastic cells, and it is reported that staining of tumors is clearly related to the degree of tumor differentiation. Eighty-one thymomas (59 noninvasive, 22 invasive) and 14 thymic carcinomas were studied immunohistologically using antiepithelial membrane antigen (anti-EMA) monoclonal antibody. Thymic carcinomas tended to express much larger quantities of EMA than thymomas, and instances of EMA-positive thymoma were seen significantly more often in invasive thymomas than in noninvasive ones (P < 0.05). However, EMA positivity was also associated with gland-like structures, which were not necessarily associated with malignant disease. Nevertheless, in view of the concept that thymoma and thymic carcinoma show a similar cellular differentiation, EMA-positive epithelial cells in thymoma with no relation to gland-like configurations might represent a pool of cells having a latent potential for malignant disease and might be transformed into thymic carcinoma cells under certain conditions. Immunolabeling for EMA appears to be a useful tool for determining the degree of malignant disease among thymic epithelial neoplasms.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0008-543X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
70
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
2077-81
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1992
pubmed:articleTitle
The distribution of epithelial membrane antigen in thymic epithelial neoplasms.
pubmed:affiliation
Second Department of Surgery, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't