Antigen reversion of glycogen phosphorylase isoenzyme in carcinoma and proliferative zone of intestinal metaplasia of the human stomach. An immunohistochemical study.

Specific antibodies to three purified glycogen phosphorylase isoenzymes, i.e., brain (or fetal), muscle, and liver types, were used to study the localization of these isoenzymes in carcinoma and the proliferative zone of intestinal metaplasia of the human stomach. Both the malignant cells of well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and the proliferative zone of some intestinal metaplasia of the stomach were stained when the antibrain-type phosphorylase isoenzyme antibody was used, but not when the other two types were used. The results suggest that brain-type phosphorylase in gastric carcinoma could be one example of fetal protein expression in cancer, and that the proliferative zone of some intestinal metaplasia having brain-type phosphorylase may histogenetically relate to well-differentiated adenocarcinoma.