[Evaluation of blood-group-related carbohydrate antigens in thyroid neoplasms].

An immunohistochemical study using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against blood group A, B, H and Lewis antigens Le(a), Le(b), Le(x) and Le(y) and lectins, such as PNA, VVA-B4 and UEA -1, was carried out to investigate the aberrant expression of carbohydrate antigens in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of thyroid neoplasms. The tissues examined consisted of 26 papillary carcinomas, seven follicular adenomas, seven follicular carcinomas, one anaplastic carcinoma and one medullary carcinoma. MAbs against A, B and H antigens reacted strongly with papillary carcinomas from most of the individuals studied (22 of 26 individuals) and their reactivity corresponded well to the blood groups of individuals. In follicular adenomas and carcinomas, these mAbs reacted weakly with a small number of neoplastic cells from two of seven, and four of seven individuals, respectively. Positive staining with mAbs against Le(a) and Le(b) antigens was found in almost all papillary carcinomas. On the contrary, these mAbs rarely reacted with cells from follicular adenomas and carcinomas. T and Tn antigens which were recognized by PNA and VVA-B4, respectively, were only weakly expressed in a limited number of cells from the thyroid neoplasms. Normal cells adjacent to malignant cells were not stained by any of the stains used in this study. These results are discussed in light of our recent findings that polylactosamine structures produced in papillary carcinomas are quite different from those expressed in other types of neoplasms.