[Relationship between mucin histochemical changes at the resection margin and rectal cancer recurrence after anterior...

The correlation between the presence of sialomucins at the resection margin identified by high iron diamine-alcian blue (HID-AB) histochemical stain and the subsequent anastomotic recurrence of the tumor was studied retrospectively in 64 rectal cancer patients at the stage of Dukes' B who underwent radical anterior resection. It was found that fourteen of 27 patients (51.9%) with a sialomucins predominant pattern at either resection margin suffered from tumour recurrence compared with 4 of 37 patients (10.8%) with a sulphomucin predominant pattern (P less than 0.001). Abnormal mucus production at the resection margin in patients treated for rectal carcinoma appears to identify those with a higher risk of anastomotic recurrence.