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Biopathologic characteristics of DNA content in crypt cells of transitional mucosa adjacent to carcinomas of the rectum and rectosigmoid

  • Original Contributions
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Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

The transitional mucosa (TM) adjacent to carcinomas of the large bowel shows histologic and mucin histochemical changes that may indicate premalignant change and may be of prognostic value after radical resection. In this study, 10 anterior resection specimens from patients with carcinomas of the rectum and rectosigmoid were used to compare the nuclear DNA content in TM with those in cancer tissue and with those in nontransitional mucosa (N-TM;i.e.,uninvolved mucosa remote from tumors showing normal histologic and mucin histochemical features). The nuclear DNA content was assessed using DNA image cytometry on Feulgen-stained sections. As compared with N-TM, crypts in TM contained greater numbers of cells, were elongated, and were more likely to be branched with marked sialomucin secretion, accompanied by a marked reduction in the normal sulfomucin content. The mean nuclear DNA content in the upper, middle, and lower thirds of crypts was significantly higher in TM than in N-TM, and the nuclear DNA content in TM exhibited no correlation to that in tumors. The results suggest that TM adjacent to carcinomas of the rectum and rectosigmoid has higher proliferative activity, providing further evidence that TM may be an unstable premalignant change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery and Histopathology, Chang Zheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

    Qiang Wang M.D., Han Gao M.D., Yonglian Chen M.D., Yuanhe Wang M.D., Jin He M.D. & Chengzhi Jin M.D.

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  1. Qiang Wang M.D.
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  2. Han Gao M.D.
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  3. Yonglian Chen M.D.
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  4. Yuanhe Wang M.D.
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  5. Jin He M.D.
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  6. Chengzhi Jin M.D.
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Additional information

Read at the Third Chinese-Japan Symposium on Digestive Surgery, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China, March 24 to 26, 1991.

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Wang, Q., Gao, H., Chen, Y. et al. Biopathologic characteristics of DNA content in crypt cells of transitional mucosa adjacent to carcinomas of the rectum and rectosigmoid. Dis Colon Rectum 35, 670–675 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053758

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02053758

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