Histochemical study of the mucins in the mucosa adjacent to colo-rectal carcinomas associated with single or multiple adenomatous polyps

Twelve surgical specimens from patients with carcinoma of the colon and rectum, associated with single or multiple adenomas, were studied. Scrapings from normal mucosa adjacent to the tumor or to the adenoma ('transitional') and from normal mucosa distant from the tumor were used for histochemical estimation of mucins. 'Transitional' mucosa showed increased sialomucins, in contrast to normal colonic mucosa where ulphomucins predominated.