Increase of mitotic activity in the colonic mucosa of patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

A histologic and histochemical study of the colonic mucosa, including a study of the mitotic index, was performed in routinely processed specimens from control and tumor-bearing patients. A significant increase in the mitotic index (number of mitosis .times. 1000 gland cells), without concomitant modifications in the distribution of mitotic figures along the crypt depth, in mucosal thickness or in mucin secretion, was demonstrated in the colonic mucosa of patients with colonic or rectal cancer compared with controls. The results point to an accelerated cell renewal in the colonic mucosa of tumor-bearing patients compared with the controls, without concomitant dysplasia. Results are discussed in the light of the possibility that an increased cell proliferation may have preceded the onset of tumor and played a role in the 2nd step of carcinogenesis, i.e., tumor promotion, independently of dysplasia.