Mammaglobin

Home > Stains & CD markers > Mammaglobin

Stains & CD markers
Mammaglobin

Author: Meenakshi Vij Gupta, M.D.

Last author update: 1 December 2015

Last staff update: 20 January 2022

Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Mammaglobin [title]

Page views in 2022: 6,587

Page views in 2023 to date: 3,026

Table of Contents

Cite this page: Gupta MV. Mammaglobin. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stainsmammaglobin.html. Accessed June 6th, 2023.

Definition / general

Belongs to the family of small epithelial secretory proteins (secretoglobins) of the uteroglobin / Clara cell protein family

Uses by pathologists

Highly specific for most breast cancers; useful to detect circulating or metastatic breast cancer (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2003;127:1330, Int J Clin Exp Pathol 2009;2:384, Mod Pathol 2010;23:654)
- Superior to GCDFP15 (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2008;132:239)
- Positive in endometrial and endocervical specimens (benign and malignant) (Int J Gynecol Pathol 2008;27:418)
- Has limited utility in medullary and metaplastic breast cancers (Am J Clin Pathol 2012;137:747)
Useful to differentiate between cutaneous and mammary apocrine carcinomas (Hum Pathol 2014;45:320)

Clinical features

While some expression is seen in normal breast, its expression is markedly increased in breast carcinoma (positive expression has been reported in 48 - 72.1% of mammary adenocarcinomas) and is directly correlated with a higher grade
Also, mammaglobin expression is said to be higher in lobular carcinomas than ductal carcinomas and in ER positive tumors

Case reports