title: [Tissue expression of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) in adenomatous lesions of the colorectum].
abstract: Serum levels of tumor markers almost not detectable in precancerous states or early cancer, the behavior of the tumor associated antigen CA 19-9 in colorectal carcinogenesis was analysed. In order to investigate the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, tissue antigenic expression was measured in adenomas, characterized by different size and histology, and compared with that found in normal colonic mucosa. Tissue content of CA 19-9 was determined by an immunoperoxidase technique (ABC-POD) in 88 colonic polyps, and correlated to the degree of histological dysplasia, and dimension of adenoma. Tissue content of CA 19-9 was also evaluated in non-adenomatous mucosa obtained by endoscopic biopsy. Among the 88 polyps, 50 showed the tubular histological type, while 31 resulted tubulovillous and 7 villous. High degree of dysplasia was present in 7 adenomas (7.9%) and focal carcinoma was observed in 6 (6.8%). Positivity for CA 19-9 was registered in 60.2% of adenomas. No correlation was found between tissue-CA 19-9 and degree of dysplasia, size of adenoma and villous component. However, a statistically significant correlation was observed between expression and cellular distribution of the antigen (chi 2 = 98.07, p < 0.00001). Our data confirmed CA 19-9 expression in adenomas, but it is unlikely this tissue antigen proves to be a reliable marker of adenoma-carcinoma sequence.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Tucci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grande
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stroppa
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Farinon
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018253:Adenoma, Villous / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003106:Colon / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen