Table 1.
Expression of MUC5AC in physiological and malignant conditions
| Organ | Expressiona | Cancer | Expression/association and functional implications to cancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salivary glands | + (16) | Salivary gland carcinoma | ++/Higher grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma with tumor- associated lymphoid infiltrates (P < 0.05) (17); ++/signet-ring cells in mucin-rich variant of salivary duct carcinoma (18) |
| Breast | − (19) | Breast cancer | ++/Shorter disease-free survival (20); coexpression of MUC1 and MUC5AC in invasive carcinomas (21); hypermethylated promoter of MUC5AC gene in non-expressing cells (MDA- MB-453) and low methylation levels in MUC5AC-expressing cells (MCF-7) expression (22) |
| Lung | ++ (13) | Lung cancer | ++++/Postoperative relapse (23); postoperative distant metastasis, shorter survival (24) |
| Stomach | +++ (25) | Gastric cancer (GC) | Shorter survival associated with reduced MUC5AC expression (26); higher tumor stage, increased invasion (27–29) |
| Gallbladder/intrahepatic bile ducts | ++ (30,31) | Gallbladder cancer | +/Adenoma, dysplasia and carcinomas of gallbladder (32); poor survival with decreased expression (33); MUC5AC expression in 86% of mucinous carcinomas of the gallbladder cases from 606 carcinomas (34) |
| Liver | − | Cholangiocarcinoma | +++/More advanced tumors (35); neural invasion (36); lymph node metastasis, poor prognosis (37,38); serum to bile ratio of MUC5AC as an effective marker to discriminate cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary disorders (39); involvement of Lewis antigen CA-S27-associated modification of MUC5AC in promoting cholangiocarcinoma cell growth, adhesion, migration and invasion (40) |
| Pancreas | − (41) | Pancreatic cancer | +++/Better survival (42–44); shorter survival (45); lymph node metastasis (46) |
| Ileum | − (47) | CRC | +++/Less aggressive (48); increased tumor grade (49); increased invasion (50) |
| Colon | − (51) | ||
| Ovary | − | Ovarian cancer | ++/97.2% ovarian mucinous tumors (52); MUC5AC over-expression leads to ovarian cancer-peritoneal cell interaction resulting in invasion to distant sites (53) |
| Endocervix | ++ (54) | Cervical cancer | +/Neoplastic glandular lesions; −/tubal metaplasia and endometriosis (55); poor survival with loss of MUC5AC (56) |
| Urothelial cells | − (57) | Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) | ++/Various forms of UBCs (58,59); simultaneous expression of MUC1 and MUC5AC in 83% of UBC (57); no correlation with survival (57) |