Adenocarcinoma in situ and invasive adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix. An immunohistologic study with antibodies specific for several epithelial markers.

The distribution of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), secretory component (SC), fat globule membrane antigens ( FGMA ), and keratin was determined immunohistochemically in 22 invasive adenocarcinomas of various types and in 9 adenocarcinomas in situ of the uterine cervix. In the invasive adenocarcinomas 77% were positive for CEA, 47% for SC, 89% for keratin, and 77% for FGMA . In adenocarcinomas in situ 67% were positive for CEA, 11% for SC, and 44% for keratin. The location of the markers was variable in the cells, and the cells in a tumor were irregularly positive. For a given histologic type there were several phenotypes. No correlation was found between histologic types of invasive adenocarcinomas and the various phenotypes. It remains to be shown whether a particular phenotype has a particular biological behavior. The detection in the serum of the markers shown in histologic preparations could be useful in the postsurgical monitoring.