Adenocarcinomas in FOXM1 transgenic mice expressed increased MUC5B and MUC5AC, and reduced NKX2.1, which are characteristics of mucinous adenocarcinomas.
When each of these three markers is evaluated, in the light of clinical and pathological parameters, MUC1 and MUC5AC may be accepted as significant prognostic parameters and may be useful in showing the progression of the tumors; MUC2 may be used in determining the mucinous carcinomas.
The proportion (87%) of positive MUC5AC expression in microsatellite-unstable mucinous carcinoma was significantly higher than that (45%) in microsatellite-stable mucinous carcinoma (P = 0.01).
To examine the relationship between subsets of colorectal polyps and non-mucinous and mucinous adenocarcinomas of the colorectum, we evaluated the frequency of the expression of cell lineage associated mucin core proteins (MUC5AC and MUC2), trefoil factors (TFF1 and TFF3), and APC and p21 in these tissues.
IPMTs of adenoma (dysplasia) type exhibited high expression of MUC2 (93%), MUC5AC (97%), and, to a lesser extent, of MUC4 (71%), all of which were also observed in colloid carcinomas associated with IPMTs.