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Reviews: M. Regina Castro and Hossein Gharib Continuing Controversies in the Management of Thyroid Nodules Ann Intern Med 2005; 142: 926-931 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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HBME-1 in the context of thyroid

Sanjay Mukhopadhyay   (9 August 2005)

HBME-1 in the context of thyroid 9 August 2005
Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, MD (Pathology) State University of New York Upstate Medical University Send rapid response to journal: Re: HBME-1 in the context of thyroid mukhopas{at}upstate.edu Sanjay Mukhopadhyay	Dear Sir, I read the article by Castro et al. (Continuing controversies in the management of thyroid nodules, June 2005 issue) with interest, since I am currently involved in a study using one of the immunohistochemical markers described as having diagnostic potential. The authors refer to this antibody, HBME-1, as "Human Bone Marrow Endothelial Cell". I would like to point out that HBME-1, in the context of thyroid immunohistochemistry, stands for "Hector Battifora Mesothelial Epitope" (Mase et al, 2003), named after the pathologist who developed the antibody using a mesothelioma cell line at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA (Sheibani et al, 1992). Confusingly, HBME-1 is also an endothelial cell-line used in tumor studies which stands for "Human Bone Marrow Endothelial Cell". Prostate carcinoma cells selectively adhere to this cell line, and this observation has been used to explain the propensity for bone metastases in prostate cancer. However, this cell line is in no way related to the antibody used in thyroid immunohistochemistry. Sincerely, Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, MD Dept of Pathology SUNY Upstate Medical Univ Syracuse, NY References: 1.Castro MR, Gharib H. Continuing controversies in the management of thyroid nodules. Ann Intern Med. 2005 Jun 7;142(11):926-31. 2. Mase T, Funahashi H, Koshikawa T, Imai T, Nara Y, Tanaka Y, Nakao A. HBME-1 immunostaining in thyroid tumors especially in follicular neoplasm. Endocr J. 2003 Apr;50(2):173-7. 3. Sheibani K, Esteban JM, Bailey A, Battifora H, Weiss LM. Hum Pathol. 1992 Feb;23(2):107-16. Conflict of Interest: None declared