DEMONSTRATION OF KERATIN IN HUMAN ADENOCARCINOMAS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 111  (2) , 213-223
Abstract
The occurrence and localization of intermediate-sized filaments in 85 cases of adenocarcinoma were examined by the indirect immunofluorescence technique and by the immunoperoxidase technique. Frozen sections of human tumor tissue were incubated with antibodies to keratin, vimentin and desmin. The presence of keratin was demonstrated in 64 cases of primary adenocarcinoma, including tumors of stomach, colon and rectum, lung, pancreas, bile ducts, ovary and uterus, female breast and prostate, and in 21 cases of adenocarcinomatous metastases in lymph nodes, thoracic and abdominal wall, omentum, mesentery, testis, liver, and the pelvis. To establish the possibility of demonstrating intermediate filament proteins by immunohistochemical techniques in fixed, paraffin-embedded material, 7 fixation methods were tested. Antibodies to intermediate filament proteins can be useful in the differential diagnosis of adenocarcinomas because they can distinguish them from tumors of nonepithelial origin in frozen sections.

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