The Paneth cell in the adenoma of familial polyposis coli.

It is said that the Paneth cells are found in the large intestine in a pathological state such as ulcerative colitis or adenoma. We examined the Paneth cells in the adenomas of familial polyposis coli. Nine cases including one case of Gardner's syndrome comprised the material for the examination of the Paneth cells because the caecum was available for the examination. The remaining one case had no Paneth cells. In two cases, the Paneth cells were found among the adenomas in the areas beyond the caecum and the proximal part of the colon ascendens. In one remarkable case, the Paneth cells were found in 43% of the adenomas in the caecum. Seven cases were carcinomas but no Paneth cells were found in or near the carcinoma. In the control cases, which were taken from the resected colon with a disease other than familial polyposis coli, the Paneth cells were found confined to the caecum. We concluded that the distribution of the Paneth cell-bearing adenomas reflects the distribution of the Paneth cells in the normal mucosa of the large intestine and that the Paneth cells in the adenoma may have differentiated in the adenoma.