Diagnostic value of mucins (MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC) expression profile in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration specimens of the pancreas

Mucins are aberrantly expressed in various malignancies. We immunohistochemically tested mucins expression (MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC) in EUS-FNA samples from pancreatic occupying lesions for the diagnostic utility. The prevalence of MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC expression in pancreatic cancers were 77.5% (31/40), 10.0% (4/40) and 80.0% (32/40), respectively, and in the benign pancreatic diseases 25% (4/16), 31.3% (5/16) and 43.8% (7/16). MUC1 and MUC5AC significantly overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, and MUC1 negatively related with tumor differentiation degree (p < 0.05). The prevalence of MUC1, MUC2 and MUC5AC expression in pancreatic mucinous neoplasms were 66.7% (12/18), 38.9% (7/18) and 88.9% (16/18), respectively, and in the pancreatic non-mucinous neoplasms 60.5% (23/38), 5.3% (2/38) and 57.9% (22/38). MUC2 and MUC5AC significantly overexpressed in pancreatic mucinous neoplasms, especially MUC2 in benign mucinous neoplasms (p < 0.05). Compared with cytology alone, the combination test of MUC1+cytology, and MUC5AC+cytology could achieve higher sensitivity (85 vs. 65%, 100 vs. 65%) and accuracy (89.3% vs. 73.2%, 91.1% vs. 73.2%) for pancreatic cancer diagnosis; the combination test of MUC2 + cytology, and MUC5AC + cytology could achieve higher sensitivity (77.8% vs. 38.9%, 100% vs. 38.9%), and specificity (97.4% vs. 60.5%, 71.1% vs. 60.5%) accuracy (100% vs. 51.8%, 80.4% vs. 51.8%) for mucinous neoplasm diagnosis. The panel MUC1+/MUC2-/MUC5AC+/ was higher specific in pancreatic cancer diagnosis, as well as MUC1-/MUC2+/MUC5AC+/ in pancreatic mucinous neoplasms. Our observations suggest the mucins expression profile in EUS-FNA specimens has higher value for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and mucinous neoplasms.