Sialomucin production in aberrant crypt foci relates to degree of dysplasia and rate of cell proliferation

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are putative early preneoplastic lesions of colon cancer. To date, many different ACF parameters have been measured as indicators of degree of colon cancer risk. It has been suggested that ACF producing sialomucins (SIM) may be more advanced types of ACF than those producing sulphomucins (SUM), but little data are available to support this. The objective of this experiment was to see if SIM ACF, as observed in whole mount colons, are different from other ACF and surrounding normal colonic crypts in terms of their rate of cell proliferation and degree of dysplasia. Results showed that all ACF had a higher rate of cell proliferation than normal crypts and that SIM ACF had higher cell proliferation in the top regions of the crypt, higher φh index of cell proliferation, higher degree of dysplasia, greater size and increased degree of luminal alterations than SUM ACF. We conclude that SIM ACF, as observed in whole mount colons, have more alterations and are more advanced towards tumorigenesis than SUM ACF and may be a better predictor of colon cancer risk than other measures of ACF.