Histochemical demonstration of gastrointestinal mucins in ovarian mucinous cystadenoma

Forty-one specimens of mucinous cystadenoma (MCA) of the ovary and 13 specimens of normal uterine endocervix were investigated histochemically using alcian blue pH 2.5-PAS, high iron diamine-alcian blue pH 2.5, galactose oxidase-Schiff reaction (GOS, for detection of gastric surface mucous cell mucins), paradoxical Concanavalin A staining (PCS, for detection of gastric gland cell mucins) and periodic acid-sodium borohydride-potassium hydroxide-PAS (PA-SB-PH-PAS) reaction (for detection of mucins of the large intestine). In addition, Grimelius staining was carried out to explore the distribution of endocrine cells. The MCAs contained abundant neutral mucins but a little acid mucins, whereas sulfomucins predominated in normal endocervices. Among the MCAs, 30, 26, 2 and 9 had tumor cells positive for GOS, PCS, PA-SB-PH-PAS and Grimelius stain, respectively. These results indicate that MCAs frequently contain tumor cells of the gastrointestinal type and endocrine cell type. Endocervical epithelia, on the other hand, lack reactivity for PCS, PA-SB-PH-PAS and Grimelius stain, although in 8 of the present specimens, the lining cells showed weak GOS reactivity.