Biologic characterization of human bone tumors. I. Ewing's sarcoma. A comparative electron and immunofluorescence microscopic study.

Six cases of Ewing's sarcoma were investigated by electron and immunofluorescence microscopy. A layer of basement membrane-like deposits was found between typical principal and secondary tumor cells. To clarify the nature of these ultrastructural deposits, antibodies against collagen type IV were applied to frozen sections of corresponding tumor tissue. This reaction revealed type IV collagen as a regular component of basement membranes in nonneoplastic tumor capillaries, but it was equally able to localize collagen type IV between single tumor cells in capillary-free areas. With the same method, factor-VIII-associated protein, predominantly found in endothelial cells, could be demonstrated in some tumor cells. These results demonstrate that, in addition to anaplastic cells, some tumor cells are found in Ewing's sarcoma that share certain differentiating features with the endothelial cell.