Pax-8

Background

Pax-8 is a member of the paired box (PAX) family of transcription factors, which plays critical roles during fetal development and cancer growth. Pax-8 is involved in kidney cell differentiation, thyroid development, or thyroid dysgenesis. For metastatic renal cell carcinoma, Pax-8 is more sensitive than CD10 and RCC. Previous studies have shown that PAX8 is expressed in some subtypes of kidney, bladder and thyroid tumors and ovarian malignancies, but not in most epithelial tumors such as breast cancer, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. It can be used to differentiate primary epithelial tumor from metastatic tumor of kidney , ovarian serous carcinoma from mucinous carcinoma and mesothelioma.