Quantitation and localization of cellular retinol-binding protein in squamous-cell carcinomas of the cervix uteri and of the oral cavity.

The concentration of cellular retinol-binding protein (CRBP) was determined by radioimmunoassay in biopsies of normal mucosa and squamous-cell carcinomas of cervix uteri from 30 women. The tumour tissues contained significantly higher concentrations of CRBP (median = 120 micrograms/g protein) than normal mucosa (median = 32 micrograms/g protein). The distribution of CRBP in normal mucosa and squamous-cell carcinomas from cervix uteri and from oral cavity was evaluated by immunohistochemical techniques. In tissue sections of normal epithelium from the cervix uteri and the oral cavity, the maturing keratinocytes in the prickle-cell layers were moderately or strongly stained when antiserum against CRBP was used, while the proliferating cells in the basal-cell layer were stained only lightly if at all. Squamous-cell carcinomas of the cervix uteri and the oral cavity presented much the same picture. The observed difference in CRBP concentration between squamous-cell carcinomas and normal squamous-cell mucosa may therefore be more quantitative than qualitative.