EpCAM expression in primary tumour tissues and metastases: an immunohistochemical analysis - Journal of Clinical Pathology

EpCAM expression in primary tumour tissues and metastases: an immunohistochemical analysis

"....Tumour tissues, such as primary and metastatic breast cancer, frequently overexpress EpCAM.2 Gastl and colleagues observed EpCAM overexpression in 35.6% of patients with invasive breast cancer, and this was associated with poor disease-free and overall survival.3 Moreover, our group has shown that survival decreases significantly with increasing amounts of EpCAM expression.4 EpCAM can be used as prognostic marker in node-positive and node-negative breast cancer.5 Furthermore, frequent and high-level EpCAM expression has been found in adenocarcinomas of the colon, stomach, pancreas and prostate.6 Most soft-tissue tumours and all lymphomas are EpCAM negative. EpCAM overexpression has been associated with a dismal prognosis in other tumour entities, such as gallbladder cancer,7 ovarian cancer8 and pancreatic cancer.9"

See also 
Table 3

EpCAM expression in genitourinary tract cancers (eg: ovarian, clear cell, mucinous...)

Conclusion
EpCAM expression was detected on adenocarcinomas of various primary sites. If EpCAM-specific antibodies are intended to be used in patients with cancer, we recommend prior immunohistochemical evaluation of EpCAM expression, particularly in patients with renal cell cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, breast cancer and squamous cell carcinomas.