Alterations of intercellular junctions in acinic cell carcinoma of the canine pancreas.

Intercellular junctions in spontaneous canine pancreatic acinic cell adenocarcinomas were compared to those in control canine pancreas. The neoplastic cells displayed proliferation and fragmentation of tight junctions and reduction in size and number of gap junctions. Marked decrease in desmosomal density was observed only in the poorly differentiated carcinoma. In the well differentiated carcinomas a few of the desmosomes were characteristic of those found in squamous cells. No quantatitive or qualitative differences in cell junctions were noted between primary and metastatic tumor.