Antigens of the basement membrane and the peritumoral stroma in human colonic adenocarcinomas: an immunofluorescence study.

Twenty 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 as in normal colonic mucosa. Hyaluronectin, a marker of peritumoral stroma, was found to be present in 12 out 15 tumors studied.