MUC1 Antibody / Mucin-1

Mucin-1/MUC1/EMA may provide a protective layer on epithelial cells against bacterial and enzyme attack. In immunohistochemical assays, it superbly stains routine formalin/paraffin carcinomas. Anti-EMA antibody is a useful marker for staining many carcinomas. It stains normal and neoplastic cells from various tissues, including mammary epithelium, sweat glands and colorectal carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma, adrenal carcinoma and embryonal carcinomas are consistently EMA negative, so keratin positivity with negative EMA favors one of these tumors. EMA is frequently positive in meningioma, which can be useful when distinguishing it from other intracranial neoplasms such as schwannomas. Antibody to EMA is useful as a pan-epithelial marker for detecting early metastatic loci of carcinoma in bone marrow or liver.