The expression and modulation of CEACAM1 and tumor cell transformation

background: in this review, we focus our discussion on one class of carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules, carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules 1 (ceacam1). this has been observed in several malignant transformations to be subjected to complex mechanisms of modulation and dysregulation. aims: restoration of ceacam1 expression in tumor cell lines often abolishes their oncogenicity in vivo, and therefore, this adhesion molecule has been regarded as a tumor suppressor. in contrast, de novo expression of ceacam1 is found with the progression of malignancy and metastatic spread in a large array of cancer tissues which include melanoma, non small cell lung carcinoma (nsclc) as well as bladder, prostate, thyroid, breast, colon and gastric carcinomas. discussion: we report and discuss the most significant findings confirming at immunohistochemical and clinical level the correlation between poor prognosis and expression of ceacam1 on the cell surface of tumors.