Distribution of collagen types I and III and basal lamina in human gastric carcinoma: an immunohistochemical and electron microscopic study.

Collagen types I and III were examined immunohistochemically in 32 cases of gastric carcinoma classified as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with scirrhous stroma, well differentiated adenocarcinoma with intermediate stroma, or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with medullary stroma. In the stroma of scirrhous carcinoma, types I and III collagens were distributed abundantly in fibrillar or granular patterns with little difference in the intensity of staining. In well differentiated adenocarcinoma, type I collagen was diffusely distributed in the stroma with type III collagen distributed sparsely. In poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with medullary stroma, the two types of collagen were only found around capillaries, constituting the tumor interstitium. Electron microscopic examination of scirrhous carcinoma showed tumor cells partially covered with fibroblasts, and discontinuous basal lamina, collagen fibers and microfibrils present between tumor cells and fibroblasts. In well differentiated carcinoma, tumor cells were surrounded by fibroblasts, and well developed basal lamina was observed beneath the tumor cells. In poorly differentiated carcinoma with medullary stroma, the stroma consisted of capillaries and very few fibroblasts with discontinuous basal lamina occasionally being present between tumor cells and fibroblasts.