DEMONSTRATION OF ALPHA-1-ANTITRYPSIN IN HEPATOMAS

Abstract

Primary malignant hepatomas (69) from humans were examined for the presence of .alpha.1-antitrypsin (.alpha.1-AT) in tumor cells using immunohistochemical methods. The (28) tumors showed positivity for .alpha.1-AT. The reaction was globular and PAS[periodic acid Schiff]-positive in 12 hepatocellular tumors and simulated the pattern of .alpha.1-AT accumulation in hepatocytes in subjects carrying the Z-gene for .alpha.1-AT. Eight of the 12 tumors presented this pattern in the nontumorous liver tissue. In 10 hepatocellular tumors the reaction was finely granular throughout the hepatocytic cytoplasm but was present in only a small number of cells. Still fewer cells were positive in 6 cholangiocarcinomas. The globular .alpha.1-AT in tumor cells may be genetically determined when associated with the Z-gene. A reappearance of fetal gene products may be assumed in 3 hepatocarcinomas with globules positive for .alpha.-fetoprotein as well as .alpha.1-AT.