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Primary adenocarcinomas of the human urinary bladder: Histochemical, immunological and ultrastructural studies

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Summary

Neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissue specimens from ten patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder were examined. Most of these tumors were associated with either foci of transitional cell carcinoma and/or with glandular metaplasia of the bladder epithelium. The mucin produced by the neoplastic cells was PAS, alcian blue, mucicarmine, PB/KOH/PAS, and RPB/KOH/PAS-positive. ABH isoantigens of these tumors were not always deleted. Ultrastructurally, the neoplastic cells resembled goblet cells. Their plasma membrane had numerous microvilli with prominent glycocalyx. Proliferation and attenuation of tight junctions were noted. The gap junctions were few and small. Two types of desmosomes were found. The ultrastructural features of the neoplastic cells were attributed in part to the malignant transformation and in part to the direction of their differentiation. We have not observed any distinctive morphologic, histochemical, immunologic or ultrastructural features that might be diagnostic for these adenocarcinomas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, 136 Harison Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Joseph Alroy, Danica Roganovic, Frederick B. Merk, Angelo A. Ucci & Paul W. L. Kwan

  2. Institute of Pathology, Medical Faculty, University “Kiril i Metodij”, Skopje, Yugoslavia

    Danica Roganovic

  3. Department of Pathology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Barbara F. Banner, John S. Coon IV & Alexander W. Miller III

  4. Department of Pathology, St. Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

    Jerome B. Jacobs

Authors
  1. Joseph Alroy
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  2. Danica Roganovic
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  3. Barbara F. Banner
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  4. Jerome B. Jacobs
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  5. Frederick B. Merk
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  6. Angelo A. Ucci
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  7. Paul W. L. Kwan
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  8. John S. Coon IV
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  9. Alexander W. Miller III
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Additional information

This study was supported by the Institute of International Education, New York; the Charlton Fund, Tufts University School of Medicine; and Grants#CA-15776 and CA 23776 from the National Cancer Institute

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Alroy, J., Roganovic, D., Banner, B.F. et al. Primary adenocarcinomas of the human urinary bladder: Histochemical, immunological and ultrastructural studies. Virchows Arch. A Path. Anat. and Histol. 393, 165–181 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431074

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