Secretion of intelectin-1 from malignant pleural mesothelioma into pleural effusion

Our plain-English summary of Secretion of intelectin-1 from malignant pleural mesothelioma into pleural effusion, by S. Tsuji, Y. Tsuura, T. Morohoshi, et al (British Journal of Cancer, 2010).

The study

• Authors: S. Tsuji, Y. Tsuura, T. Morohoshi, T. Shinohara, F. Oshita, K. Yamada, Y. Kameda, T. Ohtsu, Y. Nakamura, Y. Miyagi
• Journal: British Journal of Cancer
• Published: 2010;103(4):517-23
• Cited by: 29 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare but fatal tumour. Although most MPM patients show pleural effusion at even the early stage, it is hard to diagnose as MPM at the early stage because a sensitive and reliable diagnostic marker for MPM has not been found in plasma or pleural effusion.

Methods: In this study, we investigated whether intelectin-1 was specifically contained in MPM cells and the pleural effusion of MPM patient by immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: Malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines, but not lung adenocarcinoma cell lines, secreted intelectin-1. In immunohistochemistry, epithelioid-type MPMs, but neither pleura-invading lung adenocarcinomas nor reactive mesothelial cells near the lung adenocarcinomas, were stained with anti-intelectin antibodies. Pleural effusion of MPM patients contained a higher concentration of intelectin-1 than that of lung cancer patients.

Conclusion: These results suggest that detection of intelectin-1 may be useful for a differential diagnosis of epithelioid-type MPM in immunohistochemistry and that a high concentration of intelectin-1 in pleural effusion can be used as a new marker for clinical diagnosis of MPM.

In plain English

This laboratory study from Japan examined whether a secreted protein, intelectin-1, could help identify malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The authors tested cell lines, pleural biopsy tissue, and pleural fluid (effusion) and plasma from MPM patients. Seven mesothelioma cell lines derived from epithelioid-type MPM secreted intelectin-1. One biphasic-MPM line did not, nor did four lung adenocarcinoma lines, a colon cancer line or a prostate cancer line. In tissue, all tested epithelioid-type MPMs stained for intelectin-1. Pleura-invading lung adenocarcinoma and nearby reactive mesothelial cells did not stain. In one biphasic MPM, only the epithelioid-like cells stained. Three of the seven MPM patients whose effusions were measured had more than 3000 ng per ml, a level the authors reported in no patient with other diseases. Mean effusion levels differed between MPM and lung cancer (P = 0.0117) and between MPM and pleuropneumonia (P = 0.0306). On average, plasma levels in MPM patients differed little from those of 19 healthy donors. The authors concluded that intelectin-1 in pleural effusion could be used as a diagnostic marker for MPM. They added that reactive mesothelial cells in other diseases still need study.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory diagnostic study using cell lines, immunohistochemistry of pleural biopsy tissue, western blotting, and ELISA measurement of intelectin-1 in pleural effusion and plasma
• Who was studied: Malignant pleural mesothelioma patients listed in Table 1 (eight men aged 60 to 76; IDs Y1, Y2, Y4 to Y7, G1, G2) from Kanagawa Cancer Center or Yokosuka-Kyosai Hospital. Comparison pleural effusions came from 25 non-MPM patients at Kochi National Hospital: 9 lung adenocarcinomas, 2 lung small cell carcinomas, 1 lung large cell carcinoma, 3 tuberculoses and 10 bacterial pleuropneumonias. Plasma came from 19 healthy volunteers. Mesothelioma and other cancer cell lines were also tested.
• Exposure: Not a study of asbestos exposure. Table 1 has an asbestos exposure column, marked + for five of the eight MPM patients (Y1, Y2, Y4, Y5, G1). The study measured intelectin-1 protein, not fiber exposure.
• Main results:
  • None of the non-mesothelioma cell lines (four lung adenocarcinoma lines, the Caco-2 colon line and the DU145 prostate line) expressed intelectin-1. Seven mesothelioma lines derived from epithelioid-type MPM secreted it.
  • The MSTO-211H mesothelioma cell line, derived from a lung-metastatic site of biphasic MPM, did not secrete intelectin-1.
  • All tested epithelioid-type MPM tissue specimens stained with anti-intelectin antibodies.
  • In specimens from eight pleuritis patients with lung adenocarcinoma, no cell expressed intelectin-1. Reactive mesothelial cells on pleura invaded by lung adenocarcinoma expressed calretinin but not intelectin-1.
  • In a biphasic-type MPM patient, epithelioid-like cells expressed intelectin-1 but sarcomatoid-like cells did not.
  • Three MPM patients (Y2, Y4, Y7) had more than 3000 ng per ml of intelectin-1 in their pleural effusions (Table 1: 3609.0, 9071.8 and 7000.3 ng per ml). Seven MPM patients had effusion measurements, so this was three of seven; the other four (Y1, Y5, Y6, G2) had 83.6 to 565.3 ng per ml. The article describes the three as half of the MPM effusions. The authors reported that no patient with other diseases had a level this high.
  • Mean effusion intelectin-1 differed between MPM patients and lung cancer patients by permutation test (P-value 0.0117).
  • Mean effusion intelectin-1 differed between MPM patients and pleuropneumonia patients (P-value 0.0306).
  • Plasma intelectin-1 was higher than in healthy donors for three MPM patients (Y4, Y5, G1). The mean plasma level in MPM patients differed little from that in healthy donors.
  • In MPM patients' pleural effusions, intelectin-1 concentration did not correlate with hyaluronic acid concentration.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that intelectin-1 in pleural effusion could be used as a specific and stable diagnostic marker for MPM. They also concluded that intelectin-1 immunohistochemistry may be useful for the differential diagnosis of epithelioid-type MPM.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that reactive mesothelial cells in diseases other than carcinomatous pleuritis still need to be investigated.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Pleural Effusion, Immunohistochemistry, Lung Adenocarcinoma, Epithelioid, Pleura, Reactive Mesothelial Hyperplasia, Lung Cancer.

Related studies

• Specific expression of human intelectin-1 in malignant pleural mesothelioma and gastrointestinal goblet cells — K. Washimi, T. Yokose, et al. (2012)
• Identification of DAB2 and Intelectin-1 as Novel Positive Immunohistochemical Markers of Epithelioid Mesothelioma by Transcriptome Microarray Analysis for Its Differentiation From Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma — M. Kuraoka, V.J. Amatya, et al. (2017)
• Clinicopathological significance of intelectin-1 in colorectal cancer: Intelectin-1 participates in tumor suppression and favorable progress — N. Katsuya, K. Sentani, et al. (2020)
• Identification of intelectin overexpression in malignant pleural mesothelioma by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) — A. Wali, P.J. Morin, et al. (2005)
• Omentin-A Novel Adipokine in Respiratory Diseases — Y. Zhou, B. Zhang, et al. (2017)
• NK cells from malignant pleural effusions are not anergic but produce cytokines and display strong antitumor activity on short-term IL-2 activation — P. Vacca, S. Martini, et al. (2013)

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