Vol. 4, Issue 6 (2015)

Material and method: Endocervical glands collected from surgically removed (punch biopsy) specimens from Krishna Hospital, Karad and Siddhivinayak Cancer hospital, Miraj. Staining with H and E, special stains like PAS, PAS-D, PAS-PH, ABPAS, AB-PH2.5 and 1, AF and AF-AB was carried out and results were interpreted. Normal endocervical specimens were used as controls with carcinoma of endocervix as test. The tissues were fixed in 10% formal saline with 2% calcium acetate and a pinch of phosphotungstic acid to help for preservation of mucins. The tissues embedded in paraffin blocks were prepared by histopathological technique and cut at 5 – 6 microns. Sections were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin, and the following histochemical methods were performed on paraffin-embedded sections for the characterization of different mucosubstances such as PAS, PAS diastase, PAS- Phenyl Hydrazine, Alcian blue (AB) – pH 1 and 2.5, Aldehyde fuchsin(AF), combined AB-PAS and combined AF- AB.

Result: The carboxylated/sialomucins were few as blue colour appeared as weak reaction. Mixture of neutral and acidic (sulphated) mucins was observed with AB-PAS staining.

Conclusion: This emphasizes the importance of mucin stain as a routine for diagnostic of cervical carcinoma. Mucin content and type of mucin present can be regarded as an important prognostic indicator and early diagnosis may help in reducing the mortality regarding endocervical malignancies.