E-cadherin and calretinin as immunocytochemical markers to differentiate malignant from benign serous effusions

Table 1 E-cadherin expression in exfoliated cells of serous effusions

Effusion group	n	Positivity (%)	Expression intensity
			–	+	++	+++
Malignant	35	30 (85.7)	5	2	21	7
Benign	37	3 (8.1)	34	1	2	0

χ² = 43.633, P < 0.001 between the two groups, H = 42.744, P < 0.0001 between the two groups.

Table 2 Calretinin expression in exfoliated cells of serous effusions

Effusion group	n	Positivity (%)	Expression intensity
			–	+	++	+++
Malignant	35	4 (11.4)	31	1	3	0
Benign	37	35 (94.6)	2	0	0	35

χ² = 50.109, P < 0.001 between the two groups, H = 59.576, P < 0.0001 between the two groups.

Table 3 Diagnostic values of E-cadherin or/and calretinin ICC for serous effusions

Index	Malignant effusion (%)		Benign effusion (%)
	E-cadherin	E(+) + C(-)	Calretinin	E(-) + C(+)
Sensitivity	85.7	77.1	94.6	86.5
Specificity	91.9	100	88.6	97.1
PV+	90.9	100	89.7	97.0
PV-	87.2	82.2	93.9	87.2
DAR	88.9	88.9	91.7	91.7

E ( + )/E ( - ): E-cadherin ( + )/( - ); C ( + )/C ( - ): Calretinin ( + )/( - ); PV + : ICC-positive predictive value; PV-: ICC-negative predic-tive value; DAR: Accordance rate.