title: Evaluation of carcinoembryonic antigen and periodic acid-Schiff stains in the diagnosis of serous and mucinous ovarian tumors: morphometrical study.
abstract: 108 serous and 104 mucinous neoplasms of the ovary, classified according to the criteria of the World Health Organization, were studied with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) method for mucin and glycogen, and with immunoperoxidase method for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The amount of epithelium, the number of mitoses, and the staining positivities were quantitated morphometrically and the parameters were evaluated using the discriminant analysis. In general, CEA scores were higher in mucinous than in serous tumors and higher in malignant tumors than in their benign or borderline counterparts. High PAS positivities were found both in serous and mucinous borderline lesions. Mitotic activity correlated with the malignancy of the tumors. The best discriminator, however, was the amount of epithelium. The results show that simple morphometry with standard stains is an efficient method in the first-line classification of these tumors. The quantitation of CEA and PAS stains may be helpful in cases in which histological criteria do not allow definite classification.
mesh_terms: D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D003536:Cystadenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D010503:Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen