[Relationship between mucin histochemical changes at the resection margin and rectal cancer recurrence after anterior resection].

The correlation between the presence of sialomucins at the resection margin identified by high iron diamine-alcian blue (HID-AB) histochemical stain and the subsequent anastomotic recurrence of the tumor was studied retrospectively in 64 rectal cancer patients at the stage of Dukes' B who underwent radical anterior resection. It was found that fourteen of 27 patients (51.9%) with a sialomucins predominant pattern at either resection margin suffered from tumour recurrence compared with 4 of 37 patients (10.8%) with a sulphomucin predominant pattern (P less than 0.001). Abnormal mucus production at the resection margin in patients treated for rectal carcinoma appears to identify those with a higher risk of anastomotic recurrence.