Immunofluorescence study of the antigens of the basement membrane and the peritumoral stroma in human colonic adenocarcinomas.

Twenty-three colonic adenocarcinomas were studied by immunofluorescence with antisera against components of the basement membrane (type IV collagen, laminin, and heparan sulfate-rich proteoglycan) as well as antisera against antigens of the connective tissue (type III collagen, fibronectin, and hyaluronectin). Marked alterations of the basement membranes were consistently observed on staining with each one of the first three antisera. In contrast, staining of the normal components of connective tissue was in most cases as intense in tumors as in normal colonic mucosa. Hyaluronectin, a marker of peritumoral stroma, was found to be present in 13 out of 16 tumors studied. In six metastatic lymph nodes, tumor foci were sometimes surrounded by antigens of the basement membrane. But these antigens were never found in the cytoplasm of cancer cells.