Our recent study demonstrated the up-regulation of
maspin, IMP3, and S100P and down-regulation of von Hippel-Lindau gene product (pVHL) in ductal
adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Distinction of
adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder from benign/reactive glandular epithelium can be challenging if based on
hematoxylin and
eosin-stained sections alone. Immunohistochemical stains for pVHL,
maspin, IMP3, and S100P were performed on 82 gallbladder specimens, including
adenocarcinoma (n = 33) and normal/reactive gallbladder (n = 49). The results demonstrated (1) only 6.0% of
adenocarcinoma cases were focally positive for pVHL, and all normal and most reactive cases (85%) were diffusely positive for pVHL; (2)
maspin, IMP3, and S100P were positive in 100%, 81.8%, and 75.8% of
adenocarcinoma cases, respectively; in contrast, 53.1%, 12.2%, and 30.6% of normal/reactive cases were only focally and weakly positive for
maspin, IMP3, and S100P, respectively; and (3) 90.3% of
adenocarcinoma cases were pVHL-negative and positive for 2 or more positive markers, whereas none of the benign/reactive cases showed this staining profile. This study demonstrates that the immunostaining profile of pVHL-/IMP3+/
maspin+/S100P+ is useful in the distinction of
adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder from normal/reactive conditions.