Expression of human mammaglobin gene in pleural effusions of patients with malignant mesothelioma

Human mammaglobin (hMAM) is a 10 kd protein of unknown function originally identified through a differential screening approach aimed at the isolation of breast cancer related antigens. Accordingly, hMAM overexpression was demonstrated in breast cancers compared with non-malignant breast tissue. Based on these findings, the potential role of hMAM as a breast tumour marker has been extensively investigated.1 hMAM expression has recently been found in other tissues including lung cancer specimens and lung cancer cell lines.2 Thus, hMAM expression is no longer considered restricted to the mammary gland and the list of normal and/or malignant tissues in which hMAM is found is likely still to be incomplete. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of hMAM transcripts in the pleural …