CK7

CK7 is an intermediate filament with a selective expression pattern in different carcinomas, which when combined with CD20 is useful in the work up of carcinomas of unknown primary origin.
 
Common expression patterns in carcinoma (Dennis, JL, et al).
Tumor
Expression %
Breast
>80%
Colon
<10%
Lung
>90%
Ovary
>80%
Pancreas
>80%
Stomach
35-70%
Prostate
~10%
 
Moll, RT, et al.  Cytokeratin expression in various tumors.
Tumor
CK8/CK18
CK19
CK7
CK20
CK5
Hepatocellular Ca.
+
+/-
+/-
+/-
=
Colorectal ACA
+
+
+/-
+
=
Stomach ACA
+
+
+/-
+/-
=
Pancreas Ductal ACA
+
+
+
+/-
+/-
Lung ACA
+
+
+
=
=
Breast Inv. Ductal
+
+
+
=
+/-
Endometrium ACA
+
+
+
=
+/-
Ovary ACA 
+
+
+
=
=
RCC, Clear Cell Type
+
+/-
=
=
=
RCC, Papillary Type
+
+
+
=
=
RCC, Chromophobe
+
+/-
+
=
=
Mesothelioma
+
+
+/-
=
+
Lung, Small Cell Ca.
+
+/-
=
=
=
Merkel Cell Ca.
+
+
=
+
=
Urothelial Carcinoma
+
+
+
+/-
+/-
Squamous Cell Ca.
+/-
+/-
=
=
+
Key:  “+/-“, focal staining in some cases. “=“, negative, “+”, positive.
Photomicrographs
CK7 - Benign Skin
CK7 expression in skin highlighting duct epithelium of eccrine/adnexal structures. CK7 staining pattern is the inverse of CK5 expression.
CK7 - Benign Skin
CK7 expression in eccrine/adnexal structures from a skin section. CK7 with stain in an “inverse” pattern with epithelium compared to CK5
CK7 - Lung Adenocarcinoma
CK7 expression in lung adenocarcinoma
References
Hadi, AIMM Annual Meeting, “The Thirty Most Important Antibodies”, presentation, 2011.
 
Dennis, J. L., Hvidsten, T. R., Wit, E. C., Komorowski, J., Bell, A. K., Downie, I., et al. (2005). Markers of adenocarcinoma characteristic of the site of origin: development of a diagnostic algorithm. Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 11(10), 3766–3772. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-04-2236  
 
Moll, R., Divo, M., & Langbein, L. (2008). The human keratins: biology and pathology. Histochemistry and Cell Biology, 129(6), 705–733. doi:10.1007/s00418-008-0435-6