Histochemical Detection of O-acetyl Sialomucin in Adenocarcinoma in Gastric Biopsies: An Old Mucin with New Perspective

Objective: To determine the O-acetyl sialomucin content in different type of adenocarcinomas in gastric biopsies. Study design: Descriptive, Cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: Histopathology department, Sheikh Zaid hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from January 2012 to July 2014. Materials and methods: Total sixty cases of gastric adenocarcinoma diagnosed on H&E were included in this study. Patient’s gender and age were noted. Periodate borohydrate PAS saponification technique to detect sialomucin was applied and the results were recorded. The data was analyzed by using computer software program SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 60 patients of gastric adenocarcinoma, the male to female ratio was 2:1. The age of the patients ranged between 30 to 80 years with an average age of 51.4 ± 11.4. Out of the 60 cases, 31 were of intestinal type adenocarcinomas, rest 29 cases were diagnosed as diffuse type adenocarcinomas according to Lauren classification. On histochemical examination, 13 out of 31 cases were O acetyl sialomucin positive in intestinal adenocarcinoma group where as only 3 cases were positive in diffuse type adenocarcinoma by combined Periodate borohydride PAS saponification technique. Conclusion: The clinicopathological and histochemical results in our study not only ascertain prognosis at the time of initial diagnosis but also incorporate sialomucin as therapeutic target in advanced cases of gastric adenocarcinoma.