Abstract
A 3-layer immunoperoxidase technique was used to demonstrate carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in colonic polyps from patients with or without previous or concurrent malignancy. CEA was demonstrated in a higher percentage of the polyps received as fresh specimens that were rapidly frozen and fixed in ethanol, than in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections. Tissue CEA content of both colonic carcinomas and polyps was determined by radioimmunoassay, and it was found that benign colonic tumours had levels of tissue CEA comparable to colonic cancer, indicating that CEA concentration in a tumour does not reflect its grade of malignancy. In fact, in one case in which both colonic cancer and polyps were removed, the polyps had the higher quantities of tissue CEA. Further, tissue CEA concentration of a polyp was not dependent on its size or location. Studying the titres of circulating CEA in these patients revealed an elevation of plasma CEA in one-third of the patients with only colonic polyps, whilst the patients with cancer all had increased titres.
Highlights
Summary.-A 3-layer immunoperoxidase technique was used to demonstrate carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in colonic polyps from patients with or without previous or concurrent malignancy
Since fresh specimens of colonic polyps have since been collected, the purpose of this study is to compare the localization of CEA in fresh, ethanol-fixed sections of colonic adenomas to that in formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, and to investigate the relationship of such tissue CEA detection by immunocytochemistry to tissue and circulating CEA titres measured by radioimmunoassay
Immunoperoxidase staining for CEA in benign colonic tumours from patients with no apparent previous or current malignancy
Summary
Summary.-A 3-layer immunoperoxidase technique was used to demonstrate carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in colonic polyps from patients with or without previous or concurrent malignancy. Even though CEA is not as tumour- or systemspecific as was originally reported by Gold and Freedman (1965), it is useful in following cancer patients with pretreatment elevated plasma levels (Zamcheck, 1975; Holyoke, Chu and Murphy, 1975) It has limited value in the diagnosis of colonic tumours confined to the bowel wall, and is even less reliable for the detection of benign colonic tumours (Thomson et al, 1969; Doos et al, 1975; Zamcheck et al, 1972). Since fresh specimens of colonic polyps have since been collected, the purpose of this study is to compare the localization of CEA in fresh, ethanol-fixed sections of colonic adenomas to that in formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, and to investigate the relationship of such tissue CEA detection by immunocytochemistry to tissue and circulating CEA titres measured by radioimmunoassay
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