Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Jun 2012)

The expression and modulation of CEACAM1 and tumor cell transformation

  • Valentina Fiori,
  • Mauro Magnani,
  • Maurizio Cianfriglia

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4415/ann_12_02_09
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 48, no. 2
pp. 161 – 171

Abstract

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BACKGROUND: In this review, we focus our discussion on one class of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules, Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules 1 (CEACAM1). This has been observed in several malignant transformations to be subjected to complex mechanisms of modulation and dysregulation. AIMS: Restoration of CEACAM1 expression in tumor cell lines often abolishes their oncogenicity in vivo, and therefore, this adhesion molecule has been regarded as a tumor suppressor. In contrast, de novo expression of CEACAM1 is found with the progression of malignancy and metastatic spread in a large array of cancer tissues which include melanoma, Non Small cell Lung carcinoma (NSCLC) as well as bladder, prostate, thyroid, breast, colon and gastric carcinomas. DISCUSSION: We report and discuss the most significant findings confirming at immunohistochemical and clinical level the correlation between poor prognosis and expression of CEACAM1 on the cell surface of tumors.

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