A study of the histochemical changes in mucus from patients with benign and malignant pathological conditions of the colon and rectum.

This study has shown the presence of an abnormal mucus pattern in premalignant and malignant conditions of the colon and rectum. This abnormal mucus pattern extended as a field change around colorectal tumors into the adjacent apparently normal mucosa. Presence of this premalignant field in patients undergoing apparently curative surgery was associated with an increased risk of local tumor recurrence or metachronous primary tumors.