Annexin

The annexins are a family of calcium and phospholipid-binding proteins implicated in the pathogenesis of neoplasms. These include annexins I, II, V, VII and VIII.

Immunohistochemical expression

Annexin I positivity is lost in prostatic carcinoma:

			negative	focally positive	diffusely positive
	Normal prostatic epithelium				127/1271
	High-grade PIN			38/501	12/501
	Prostatic carcinoma	Gleason 6	7/401	18/401	15/401
		Gleason 7 or 8	22/271	5/271
		Gleason 9 or 10	9/101	1/101

Annexin 8 stains pancreatic adenocarcinoma but not normal pancreatic epithelium

Diagnostic utility

Potentially of use in the differentiation of benign prostatic epithelium, PIN and prostatic carcinoma.
Annexin 8 in combination with claudin 18 has potential for differentiating benign pancreatic epithelium from infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the pancreas2.

References

1 Patton KT, Chen HM, Joseph L, et al. Decreased annexin I expression in prostatic adenocarcinoma and in high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Histopathology 2005; 47:597-601

2 Karanjawala ZE, Illei PB, Ashfaq R, et al. New markers of pancreatic cancer identified through differential gene expression analyses: claudin 18 and annexin A8. Am J Surg Pathol 2008; 32:188-96

This page last revised 1.3.2008.

©SMUHT/PW Bishop