Spectrins are the principal skeletal proteins involved in cellular adhesion, migration, and signal transduction, and have been shown to be associated with integrate structure and function in complex tissue of all multi cellular organisms. The present study investigates the role of spectrins in metastasis. Methods Three categories of samples were studied. First, spectrin expression patterns were examined in 66 normal, benign and malignant samples. Second, 188 primary tumor cases, including 69

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... nts of metastasis, were studied. Finally 29 cases of body fluid metastasis without available primary tumor samples were studied. Expression of spectrin isoforms αII, βI, βII, and βIII were studied by immunohistochemistry in primary tumors (188 cases) with lymph node, remote organ, and body fluid metastasis; the 26 cases of malignant body fluids were paired with their corresponding primary tumors and analyzed. Results In this paper we focus on the expression of αII and βIII isoforms. We found an aberrant loss of αII mainly in breast invasive ductal carcinoma, among other cancers. Positive body fluids had markedly reduced αII and βIII expression, (P<0.0009, P<0.0001 respectively). βII remained present in all the primary tumors and cytology samples. No difference was identified in lymph node or remote organ metastasis. Conclusion We posit based on the established role of spectrins in various forms of cancer and in cell structure and adhesion that spectrins play an important role in maintaining tissue structure, with aberrant expression associated with body fluid metastasis. Citation : Wang Y, Khader S, Mehlman Y, et al. Loss of αII and βIII spectrin isoforms in body fluids is associated with metastasis. Citation: Wang Y, Khader S, Mehlman Y, et al. Loss of αII and βIII spectrin isoforms in body fluids is associated with metastasis.